Healing Animal Truths

Beyond and Back

2012-01-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

I have a new favorite TV show called "I Survived: Beyond and Back." It airs on Sunday nights at 7pm on the Biography channel. If you've ever wondered if there is an after life, this is definitely the show to watch.

The premise of the show is that they tell the story of 2-3 different people who clinically died and then came back to life (in most cases their heart stopped for 20 minutes or more). The people share the experiences they had while they were 'dead', what they saw and felt and learned. They also show what the people who were trying to save them were experiencing as well.

The people tell stories of the relatives they spoke with, the intense feelings of peace and love that they had, the understanding of how everything in life made sense when they were "on the other side." Many of them went through life reviews, where they saw their whole life flash before them and could see where their journey had taken them thus far and why. Often times, the people don't want to come back - they want to stay on the other side because it is such an intensely wonderful experience to be on the other side.

It usually takes away any fear they ever had of dying, as they realize that it is not only something they shouldn't be afraid of but actually it is something to look forward to. They often have a renewed sense of purpose, a shift in priorities and a new found belief in something greater than themselves.

In one episode, a man in his late 50's explains that when he was "on the other side" he saw his beloved dog who had passed away many years earlier. He got choked up and started to cry, when he said how shocked he was, as he didn't know animals went to the same place we went to, . Through tears he said, "It was so good to see him again."

It reminded me of a conversation I had once with a client's elderly mom when my client's dog was getting ready to make her transition. Her mom told us she was sure that animals didn't go to the same place we did and my client and I just smiled at each other, because we knew that wasn't the truth. Some people do believe that animals don't have souls like we do but I know that they do.

I think part of the reason I love this show so much is that it confirms so many of the beliefs that I have about the other side, about what the purpose of our journey is while we are here and how much support we really do have as we try to make our way on our given paths.

If you haven't seen the show, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, it will give you some things to think about. Maybe it will even take away any fear you may have about the loss of life, whether it is the loss of a person or an animal.

The new season starts tonight!!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

To those of you who read my blog regularly, my apologies for being "silent" for so many weeks. I know I haven't gone that long without a blog post since the inception of this blog (as a few of you have gently pointed out) and I hope to never go that long again. The month of December just seemed to get away from me.

As many of you know, my mom passed away in April and so this was the first Christmas without her. Her birthday was also at the beginning of December, so the whole month was filled with missing her, adjusting to being without her during her favorite holiday and trying to find ways to honor her. I rode the waves of grief as best I could and fortunately, found some sweet ways to feel close to her as well.

Christmas Day, I listened to the radio on the way to and from my dad's house, hoping she'd let me know she was around by getting "In The Air Tonight" to play on the radio . . . and my disappointment at not hearing the song was erased the next day and the day after that when the song came on each time I got in the car. :-)

It wasn't a terrible month, there were definitely some bright spots here and there. Highlights of the last several weeks include:

- Witnessing the bravery and courage of a doggy client who had to have her arm amputated, who seems more worried about how her parents are feeling than she is about getting around on three legs. She is a beautiful inspiration and just such a love. She is planning to show the world that she is the same strong, fabulous girl whether she has 3 or 4 legs.

- Hearing stories from my clients about how they are talking to their animals and how they are seeing the heart warming evidence that their pets are understanding (and appreciating) everything they are being told.

- Having the cat of one of my human clients tell me that he can send healing energy to his mom just like I do . . . and finding out from her afterwards that whenever she starts to not feel well, she's notices that he immediately comes and lays on her (and that she does feel better soon after).

- Having a daffodil come up a couple days after Christmas, which, for those of you who know about daffodil bulbs, they aren't supposed to come up until the spring, but every year since Lucky passed away, I have had at least one daffodil make an early appearance in my backyard around Christmas.

- And finally, a visit from Chester, my squirrel friend, who hadn't been around for weeks, who showed up the day after my water heater decided to give out, to remind me that there was still much to smile about.

So, Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all are feeling ready for the year ahead! My hope is that it is a magical year for everyone, filled with more of what you want, hope and wish for . . . and that each day is filled with love, laughter, peace and joy!

My Squirrel friend

2011-11-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, I wrote about a squirrel I met in my yard. The day after I wrote that blog about him, he came for a visit . . . and much to my delight, he has visited me every day since then.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how happy it makes me when I see him (might be a sign that I am finally ready to get another dog, since I seem so happy with his companionship) :-) I have found myself sitting in the backyard more often lately, because if I'm out there, he'll come by 3, 4 or 5 times, and he'll just hang out for a bit while I talk to him.

Sometimes, when I am on the phone, he'll come down and pretend he's going to dig in one of my pots. He'll stay there, not doing any actual digging, until I notice him and once I open the door and whisper "You remember you're not supposed to dig in my flower pots, right?" he'll excitedly run back up the fence. It's as if he just wants me to notice him.

Some mornings, I wake up and find him sitting on the back fence right outside the back patio door. It's as if he's waiting for me to get up. When he's there, I open the door and say good morning to him and he'll sit there for a minute, looking at me, and then casually walk down the fence.

Originally, I always knew he was my special squirrel friend because he walked very oddly. His arms and legs were farther out to the sides than most squirrels . . . so he almost looked more like a frog, with his belly closer to the ground. But while watching him this weekend, I realized he doesn't walk that way anymore. His arms and legs are tighter under his body, the way the rest of the squirrels look and it made me wonder if he was injured when I first met him . . . and if he started coming around so much because he needed some healing. I can't think of any other explanation for why he walks and runs so differently but now when he runs down the fence, he bounds just like the other squirrels and it makes me happy to know that he's feeling better.

Yesterday, he came by and hung out for about 20 minutes while I was sitting in the backyard working on the crossword puzzle. I decided I wanted to take a picture of him and asked if he'd mind sitting still while I did that. My sweet little friend was kind enough to hang out long enough for me to get my camera and snap several photos of him. He was so cute about it, he looked like he was actually enjoying his photo shoot, giving me several different poses. This one is my favorite. I have decided to call him Chester. I figured if we were going to spend this much time together, he ought to have a name other than "my squirrel friend."

I do think it's probably a sign that I am ready to get another dog. It will be interesting to see what the coming weeks have in store for me . . . but for the time being, I am happy to have Chester around to visit with. I hope he'll continue to come by for his daily visits.

Squirrels

2011-11-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

I met a squirrel the other day that had me smiling so much, that I have found myself hoping I will see him again. Normally, I am not all that thrilled about having squirrels in my yard, because they dig up my daffodil bulbs, kill flowers that are still blooming and generally make a mess with all the dirt they throw around. When I see them in the yard, I remind them that I would like them to refrain from digging in my flower pots and usually they quickly run off - up the fence and out of sight.

So a month ago, I was sitting in the yard, doing the crossword puzzle and enjoying the sun, when a bold little squirrel walked right over to a flower pot three feet away from me and started digging away. I said "Hey, what are you doing?" He jumped out of the pot and stepped up on the deck and I thought he was going to tear out of the yard but instead he stopped, turned around and just looked at me.

I stood up and took a few steps towards him and he didn't flinch, which was odd, since the squirrels usually high tail it out of my yard if I move. I took another step towards him and then crouched down next to the deck, so we were eye level. I explained how I felt about he and his squirrel friends messing up my yard and killing my flowers and asked him if he would please leave my flower pots alone. He sat there, calmly looking at me and appearing to understand every word that I said, so I got up and sat back down in my chair.

As soon as my eyes focused back on the crossword puzzle, I heard a noise and looked up to find him in the flower pot again, throwing dirt at an accelerated pace, removing most of the pedals from the flower closest to him. Again, I got up and walked towards him and again, he moved up to the deck, only a foot away from the pot, so I crouched down and tried explaining one more time how much I wanted him to leave my flowers alone. He continued to look me in the eye and what I picked up from him was a mixture of understanding as well as determination - for as much as he got what I was saying and wanted to comply, he had a goal and he wasn't going to stop until he achieved that goal.

This little guy was fiercely determined and it's a quality I possess myself from time to time, when something it really important to me, so I couldn't really fault him for it. It made me laugh and I said, "OK, I get it - you really want the nut that is buried in the flower pot, so how about if you let ME fish it out for you because I think I can do it without making such a mess." He just looked at me but I swear, I could tell he liked that idea.

I reached into the pot, dug around a bit and found the nut he was looking for. I rolled it over towards him and smiled as I said, "Here you go sweetheart, now will you stay out of my flowers?" He excitedly grabbed the nut and then once again, just sat there looking at me.

I thanked him for letting me help out and told him that if he ever needed my assistance again, to just let me know. I said I'd be happy to do the "digging" for him, since I could help save my flowers that way. He turned around to leave twice, and both times changed his mind after a step or two and walked back towards me. He was so calm and peaceful and I could feel his gratitude. It may sound odd but I think we both felt like we had made a new friend that day.

2011-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

A client of mine has had an enormous amount of grief to deal with in the last five years. She lost one of her beloved dogs, then she lost her husband, then she lost another one of her beloved dogs. Her remaining dog was like her lifeline. He was the thing that kept her going, her reason for getting up in the morning. So, this summer when she lost him, her final dog, she was consumed with grief.

The emails she sent me and phone conversations we had in the weeks that followed made my heart heavy. She spoke of her deep despair, and her fear that she had nothing left to live for. She worried that she would be consumed by the grief she was experiencing. She was unable to stop crying, unable to eat or sleep or even get herself in the shower. I kept encouraging her to give it time, to just feel what she was feeling and give herself the space to honor and process all the things she was feeling. I honored her feelings and did my best to just be there for her, so she knew she wasn't alone.

In one conversation we had, she asked me how I managed to still function without Lucky and I told her of the dream I had after Lucky died. In the dream, she told me she was going to come back to me as a german shepherd named Chance. I explained that it gave me something to look forward to, knowing my life would one day be filled with the love of a special companion again. It didn't immediately make her feel better, but it gave her something to think about.

Several weeks after that particular conversation, I got an email from her telling me of the exciting events that had been unfolding in her life. She ran into a gal she hadn't seen in years, who encouraged her to check out a rottweiler rescue site she knew about. She felt compelled to check out the website, even though she wasn't sure she was ready for another dog and when she got on the site, there was a rottweiler on the front page named Chance. She took it a sign and immediately filled out an adoption application.

The next weekend, her friend drove with her to the woman's house that had the rescue dogs and much to her surprise, she and Chance didn't connect at all . . . but there was another dog there, a dog named Chuck and it was love at first sight. The rescue gal knew immediately that they were a perfect fit. Chuck couldn't take his eyes off my client as they walked around the yard in perfect harmony. She said she felt a major connection to him.

You could feel the excitement bubbling out of her email . . . the words sprang off the page as she wrote about the contentment she felt as she drove home with him in her car . . . how she knew they belonged together and how much joy she felt in her heart. She felt she had a purpose again, a reason to be happy to wake up each morning. She sensed that Chuck was exactly what she needed in her life.

Since then, I have received many heart warming emails from her, keeping me up to date on the adventures she and Chuck have been having. It is so wonderful to see her happy again, to feel her joy. While she still feels the loss of her husband and three dogs, she has embraced this new chapter in her life and is enjoying it as it unfolds.

It has reminded me of the fact that for each of us, there is a 'right' time to get another animal after we have lost one. For some of us, we may need to wait months or years before we are 'ready' again and for others, the 'right' time is much sooner. No one can tell you what is right, you just need to follow your own heart and trust your own instincts. I do believe we are guided to the 'right next step' on our paths . . . we just need to stay opened and pay attention.

Available kitties!

2011-10-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder about the feral cats in your neighborhood? Do you ever wonder what happens to the litters of kittens they have each year? Fortunately, there are kind-hearted people out there who do what they can to help the feral cat population and I have had the pleasure of knowing one of these wonderful people. She is making a real difference with the cats in her neighborhood and I am dedicating this weeks blog to her and the wonderful work she does.

She goes out of her way to spay and neuter the feral cats in her neighborhood, to try to help ease the over population problem. When a feral cat does have a litter of kittens, she takes care of the kittens, helps them to feel safe and to become comfortable with people. Then she finds them new loving homes so they can learn what it is like to live in a house full of kindness. Most importantly, she treats every one of these feral cats with dignity and respect. She does everything she can to help them . . . she is a wonderful guardian to all the cats whose path cross hers.

I don't think it is any accident that all the feral cats in her neighborhood started showing up in her yard month after month, year after year. After all, animals are smart. They know who is kind and they know where to go when they need help. They are savvy enough to know that Christa's house is a good place to go if they need food, medical treatment or if they just need to feel safe.

Christa has been looking for homes for the latest groups of "fosters." She put together a wonderful blog with pictures of the kitties currently looking for homes, and a description about each one of them. I am including the link to her blog, so that you can look at the precious kitties who are in need of new homes. Maybe you know someone who is looking for a new cat. Maybe you are looking for one yourself, or just maybe you'll meet someone in the next day or the next week who is looking for a cat and you can direct them to Christa's website.

These kittens have all been well taken care of and they are ready to find their forever homes. Can you help them find their new forever home? Take a look at Christa's website and see what you may be able to do to help. http://tabbyornottabby.blogspot.com/

Animals roles in our lives evolve

2011-10-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

My neighbor invited me into her house the other day to look at the home improvement projects they had recently completed. We were busy looking at bathroom fixtures and light fixtures and I had been in the house at least 5-10 minutes when their dog Cricket finally realized I was there. (He had been sound asleep and his hearing doesn't work too well anymore, as he is over 15 years old, so he didn't know someone had come in). Once he saw me though, it was all wags and kisses and I spent some time giving him love and attention.

As I was petting him, my neighbor said, "He isn't much of a guard dog anymore, is he?" She went on to describe how someone could break into the house and he'd never know, etc. I felt bad for Cricket and didn't want him to feel that he was being criticized, so with a smile on my face I gently said, "Maybe that's not his job anymore . . . maybe he has another job."

I wasn't sure how my neighbor was going to respond . . . she was quiet for a minute or two . . . and then she said, "You know, I think you are right. His job is to take care of my daughter and he does a wonderful job."

It made me smile in a deep, from the toes sort of way. Her daughter is five years old and I love seeing she and Cricket together. They are the best of friends. There are times where I am in my backyard and she and Cricket are in their backyard and I find myself fighting back giggles when I hear her conversations with him.

She talks to him constantly, plays with him, lays with him, sneaks him extra treats when no one is looking, etc. Cricket gives her constant companionship, he makes her laugh, lets her do just about anything to him and he is happy to play along.

It made me happy to know that Cricket's mom was seeing that he does have another job to do now and it's probably more important than being a guard dog. I believe that the impact he is having on her daughters life right now, will stay with her and remain a positive for the rest of her life.

It got me thinking about the fact that the role our animals play in our lives can change and evolve over time . . . based on our needs. They may come into our lives to teach us something and once we've learned what they came to teach us, they may teach us something else, or they may play a role in another family members life or non-family members lives.

Several years ago, I met a woman whose dog had gone blind at a very early age. I remember her telling me that he still loved to play fetch in the water with sticks. She told me stories about the people they met who were astounded that he could find a stick in the water, even without being able to see. She told me that she thought part of his job was to help people see that it was possible to still life a full life, even with a disability. When they first adopted him, they had other expectations for the role he would play in their lives, but she fully embraced the new role he began to play after he lost his sight.

The one thing that I always trust is that animals know . . . they know why they are here, and they know what is needed most, even if we don't see it at the time. What magical creatures they are and what a blessing it is for us to have them in our lives.

Dream Interpretations

2011-09-18T17:22:00.001-07:00

Sometimes our dreams just seem weird and don't seem to make any sense at all, but because I believe our dreams offer us a multitude of insight into what is going on in our subconscious mind, I have been more inspired lately to try to understand what my dreams are telling me, regardless of how weird they are. :-)

It all started a few months ago, when I was telling a good friend of mine about a recurring dream that I was having again. We couldn't figure out what it meant but shortly after our conversation, she came across a website, www.dreambible.com and told me about it. I was blown away the first time I used it, as I plugged in various elements of my recurring dream and over and over, my jaw dropped as I saw what each element meant. It painted a picture so clear, there was no denying what my subconscious mind had been trying to show me.

This website has opened the door to understanding more of the dreams that I could never make sense of . . . and from that, I found the insights and guidance my dreams had been trying to give me. I have found myself consulting the website several times a week lately, to understand symbols from new dreams that I am having and seeing what gems are there for me.

However, sometimes we may not think there is a need to analyze our dreams. If our dream seems pretty straightforward, we can assume that there is no way to misinterpret it's meaning, but on occasion, our dream may not be telling us what we think it is telling us.

Recently, I had a session with some former clients of mine and their new puppy. Losing their previous dog was incredibly hard on them and I think they feared their hearts would stay broken forever, but when this new puppy entered their lives, he showed them that it was OK to smile again.

The puppy, while he appeared to just be goofy, mischievous and full of life, carried some deep sadness inside him and a feeling of responsibility and guilt I couldn't quite put my finger on. They told me he had been the only survivor of a litter of twelve puppies and then it all started to make sense. He felt guilty that all of his siblings had passed away, and that he had been the only one to survive. He carried a burden that he should have or could have done more to try to keep the rest of the litter alive.

I worked with him, to try to help him release those feelings of responsibility and guilt. I talked to him about the fact that there was a reason that he survived, that he must have very important work to do here and reminded him that life here is meant to be enjoyed.

Even though I could feel a lightness come back to the puppy, I could sense that his mom was still feeling a heaviness in her own heart. I asked her what was going on, as I was picking up worry and concern from her but I didn't understand why. She told me that several times, since they adopted him, she had vivid dreams of ME holding him. She said in the dreams, he seemed very content to be with me and she worried it was a sign that *I* was supposed to be the one who adopted him, not she and her husband. She admitted that she felt a little bit of guilt that maybe they had adopted a puppy who was meant for me.

While I could understand how she had interpreted the dream that way, I also knew in my heart that what the dream meant was that he wanted to have a session with me, to help him heal the sadness he carried in his heart. I knew he wasn't supposed to be MY dog, but instead my client. I believed someone was telling her, in her dream, that it would help him to see me, but she had misinterpreted the dream.

As I explained to her what my interpretation of her dream was, and how I sensed that someone wanted her to bring this little guy to see me, so he could release that sadness now, and live a life free of that pain . . . I could feel a lightness come back to her. She let go of the worry she had been holding for the last few months and embraced the idea that he really was supposed to be with she and her husband.

I felt bad that she had carried that worry around for so many months but I also trust that everything happens for a reason and I knew the important thing was that they had come to see me. Not only had we been able to help their new puppy, but we had also been able to put that worry to rest for her.

Our dreams occur *for* us, to give us insights and guidance, to help us heal the past and take the right steps in the present. I really believe they are a gift. I hope you will allow your dreams to guide you as well.

Communicating with my mom

2011-09-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my dad asked me to come over to the house and look through my mom's clothes. He wanted to see if there was anything of hers I wanted before he began donating anything. Given that it has only been four months since my mom passed away, I wasn't sure who I was more worried about . . . me or my dad. I knew it was going to be potentially overwhelming for both of us.

Much to my surprise and relief, it ended up being a very pleasant experience. First of all, we only went through one of her closets and one dresser. When I realized my dad was going to take his time with this, I felt so much calmer. It was a relief that we didn't go through everything, especially since my mom has three closets, plus my old childhood bedroom that was basically turned into a walk-in closet. (To say my mom loved clothes and loved to shop is a giant understatement). I felt good knowing this wasn't "it" - we weren't going to be closing this chapter for a while. Secondly, we talked a lot, which I don't always get to do with my dad. We shared stories about my mom, laughed a bit, and talked a lot about her wonderful sense of style. It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening and it felt good to have a few things of my mom's to remember her by.

The next night, I went over to my friend Sue's house to see she and her puppies (my god children), Mingus and Nina. They are seven months old now and growing non-stop. They are absolutely darling. So full of energy and developing their own distinct personalities. Mingus goes back and forth between being sweet and silly and then being stubborn. We joked that he is taking after Sue's boyfriend Steve. Nina, on the other hand is often more serious, more contemplative, which is more like Sue. They both go back and forth between being totally wild and crazy and then peaceful and angelic. Typical puppies I suppose. :-)

While we were in the backyard playing with the puppies, I told Sue about my experience the night before. She was equally glad that it ended up being a positive experience, as she knew I was worried about whether or not it would be too overwhelming for my dad and I. Later in the evening, when we were having dinner, she and I were talking about how I keep hearing "In the air tonight" and how I know it's my mom letting me know she is around. All of the sudden, I thought "Wow, that's really odd that I didn't hear the song when I left my dad's house that night." I mentioned it to Sue and she agreed that it seemed strange that, of all times, my mom wouldn't let me know she was around when we had been going through her clothes. I joked with Sue that I hoped it wasn't a sign she was upset over the items I chose to take home.

That night, when I was leaving Sue's house, I had made a U-turn in front of her house, and as I reached up to wave goodbye to Sue, with the other hand, I hit a button on the radio and boom - there is was - the first couple notes of 'In the air tonight." I had a grin on my face a mile wide as I drove down the street. I thanked my mom for checking in and letting me know she had heard me.

The next weekend, I was heading over to my dad's house again, this time for a block party on their street. My family has lived in that house for over forty years and several of the families that we grew up with still live there as well. All three of us kids made a point of going to the block party this year so that my dad wouldn't be alone. We knew it could potentially bring up a lot of memories of mom and we wanted to be there to support him. As I pulled into the development, I was thinking about the fact that I haven't seen most of these neighbors since my mom's funeral and wondered if it would be awkward. And then, as if on cue, "In the Air Tonight" came on the radio. I said out loud, "Oh good mom, I am glad you are going to be at the block party as well."

It felt good to know she was there and it made it easy to talk about her in casual conversation . . . like when my dad said, "We don't really need a table cloth do we?" and I said, "You know what mom would say." He just smiled and pulled the table cloth back out out of the drawer. Even though she isn't still physically here, it only seemed right to still follow her etiquette rules. :-)

A Little Communication Can Go A Long Way

2011-08-21T14:06:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday night, I got home after being out for the evening. I decided to check email before I went to bed and I found an email from my friend Judy. We consider each other good friends, as we have known each other for probably 11 years, although we have never met in person.

We first connected when she and her husband adopted a german shepherd puppy named Angus from a rescue organization. Angus was having some issues but they weren't getting any support from their rescue group, so they decided to try another german shepherd rescue group. I happened to be volunteering for a group here at the time and worked the "hotline" (picking up messages from our main number and returning people's calls). We hit it off immediately and I became friends with Judy and her husband, and of course, developed a connection with Angus too. Over the last 11 years, we've stayed in touch, sometimes more than others, but always knowing we'll be there for each other if one of us needs something.

So back to the email . . . she said she was very concerned about Angus, because he hadn't been wanting to eat for the last week or so. She asked if I could do something to help them. It was late and I was tired, so I knew it was best to do an official session with him in the morning after I got some rest, but I decided to at least check in with Angus before I went to sleep.

When I connected to him I felt some pain in my lower right jaw that felt like a tooth ache. I made a mental note to mention that to Judy the next day and then focused on telling him what was going on. I explained that his mom had contacted me and that she was very worried about the fact that he hadn't been wanting to eat, fearful that it was something serious. I told him that I was going to check back in with him in the morning for a 2 way conversation, but wanted to give him a heads up that I was going to do that and let him know his mom wanted to know what was going on with him.

The next morning, when I got on the computer there was an email from Judy waiting for me. She said she was sure that I must have already communicated with Angus because when she got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, Angus followed her in there and then kept pushing his face into hers. At first she was slightly annoyed but Angus wouldn't let up. Eventually, she looked more closely at his mouth and noticed some puss on his gums. Upon closer inspection, she realized his tooth was infected.

After reading the email, I immediately called her and we compared notes. Sure enough, the tooth that looked infected was in the lower right part of his mouth, where I had felt some discomfort. She asked what time I communicated with him and I told her it was around midnight. She laughed and said, "Well that makes sense, I think it was about 1am when I got up to use the restroom." We laughed over the idea that Angus must have decided he could handle the communication with his mom and didn't need to wait until the next day when I connected with him again.

After thinking about it, Judy realized that Angus had been "getting in her face" a lot lately but she didn't put it together until now. He had probably been trying to show her his tooth, but she didn't get "the message" he was trying to deliver . . . that is until the night before when he was even more insistent than he had previously been.

It reminded me that animals really do try to communicate on their own. Sure, it's great that there are animal communicators out there to assist in delivering messages, but I think they would probably prefer to be able to talk to their guardians themselves. If only we could "hear" them better! :-)

Understanding things from their perspective

2011-08-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

I have a friend whose dog developed an aural hematoma on his ear (a hematoma occurs when blood collects between the skin and the cartilage of the ear flap). They have had to drain it a couple of times and until it completely heals, his poor dog has been forced to wear a cone (e-collar) around his neck.

Recently my friend told me he had been teasing his dog about how funny he looked and how uncoordinated he was, trying to maneuver around the house with the cone on. He probably wasn't really teasing his dog. I think he told me that because he knew he'd get a rise out of me. (All my friends know that I don't believe in ever teasing animals or saying unkind things to them). We have the kind of relationship where we kid around a lot and give each other a bad time, so this was more playful banter than serious conversation.

I suggested that he try the cone on and wear it around the house for a while, and see he how HE liked it. :-) I thought he might develop some more empathy for his dog, if he knew exactly what his dog was experiencing with that awful thing around his neck. I jokingly told him I thought it was important for him to know how a cone affects how things sound, how challenging it is to do just about everything, things as simple as walking and eating, and suggested he not just try the cone on, but wear it for a whole day.

He emailed me a week later and told me he had worn the cone (although he didn't say for how long) and had been properly educated about what an unpleasant experience it is. He vowed to never tease his dog about the cone again. I told him I wouldn't believe he had worn the cone unless I saw it for myself. That wasn't really true, but I thought it would be funny to see if I could get him to wear the cone in front of me.

Last weekend, a mutual friend of ours had us over for dinner. I suggested he bring the cone and wear it during the evening. Amazingly, he did bring the cone with him, although understandably, he was hesitant to put it on at first. After dinner, he was a good sport though (after much goading) and put the cone on. He even let us take pictures. We were all laughing so hard, I am surprised any of the pictures turned out.

I didn't feel too bad about giving him such a bad time because I personally have worn a cone before. I did it because I wanted to understand why it scared Lucky so much. After that experience, I got it and from them on, I went out of my way to avoid making Lucky wear the cone. When she had hot spots on her hips, I put boxer shorts on her to keep her from licking the hot spots. I figured wearing boxers was a far better alternative to the cone and she definitely seemed happier.

For as silly as we all were being, I do think it is very important to understand things from our animal's perspective. I know they appreciate it when we put forth a little extra energy to see things through their eyes.

In The Air Tonight

2011-07-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, my parents disliked most of the music my siblings and I listened to. They were constantly telling us to "turn that noise down" and I remember my dad being especially critical of our music because they "sang the same line over and over again" and "obviously lacked creativity". :-)

So, it was particularly noteworthy, in 1981, when my mom decided she loved one of the songs we were listening to. It was "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. She liked the song so much, she would even let me put my album on her stereo downstairs, instead of the stereo in my bedroom. Us kids viewed it as a major breakthrough, a sign that we finally had something in common with at least one of our parents. :-)

When we were planning my mom's funeral a few months ago, we decided to put together a slide show of pictures of my mom's life to show during the service. There was no question in anyone's mind, we were going to play "In The Air Tonight" along with the pictures. No one even suggested an alternate song. We all just knew that was the right song to play.

Since my mom's funeral, I have heard that song almost every week, on at least seven or eight different radio stations and it's impossible for me to believe anything other than it's my mom letting me know she is still around.

The first time I heard it, it was a week or so after the funeral. The family had gathered together at my dad's house to celebrate mother's day and it was definitely not an easy day. I felt her absence so intensely. As I was driving towards the freeway on my way home, the song came on. I got goose bumps up my arms and teared up as I thought about my mom and how much she loved that song. I wondered if my mom was letting me know she was around but I wasn't ready to believe it yet.

The next week, I was driving up 280, on my way to an appointment, and the song came on again. At almost the same moment I realized it was that song again, I also realized I was driving past the exit you would take to go to the cemetery where my mother's remains reside. It made me tear up and I thought for sure, she must be letting me know she was around. A couple weeks later, when I was driving the other direction on 280, the song came on again, in almost the exact same spot, when I was about the pass the exit to the cemetery.

Almost every week, I hear the song, which I find odd, because it's not like it is a new song that you would expect to be overplayed on the radio. It is a thirty year old song - and yet, I keep hearing it again and again - and each time, it makes me smile.

The cool thing is, I am not the only one who is hearing it. I have had friends, who were at my mom's service, call and email me to tell me that they heard "the song from the slideshow" on the radio and that it made them think of my mom.

And on the subject of "signs from the other side" . . . a few weeks ago, it was Lucky's birthday, so I took the afternoon off and went to our favorite beach. It was what we always did on her birthday, so it seemed only right that I would keep up the tradition. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed walking along the beach, watching and listening to the ocean but I felt a slight amount of disappointment that I didn't see a single German Shepherd the whole time I was there. I wanted to know that she was still around me.

As I was getting ready to make my way back up the big staircase to where my car was parked (there are about 90 steps), I looked up to the top of the stairs, and took a deep breath to gear myself up for the walk up all those steps. Just then, at the top of the staircase, I saw a beautiful German Shepherd, excitedly waiting for her guardian to take her leash off, so she could make her way down to the beach. I just stood there, smiling . . . and waiting for her to make her way down the stairs . . . and feeling like it was Lucky's sign to me that she was still around.

When the Shepherd and her guardian got to the bottom of the stairs, I asked the guardian if I could pet his dog. He was very nice and kindly introduced us (her name was Lyka). She said hello and then wandered away when some smell caught her attention. Female shepherds tend to be a bit aloof, so I didn't expect her to visit with me too long, but when I told Lyka's guardian why I was at the beach that day (that it was Lucky's birthday and that I had lost her almost two years ago), Lyka came right over to me and was suddenly very friendly, even giving me a kiss when I leaned down to pet her. At that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that my sweet girl was giving me a sign that she was around me, that she was celebrating her birthday with me.

Losing someone is hard. Regardless of whether the someone is two legged or four legged, we feel the loss and their absence can make our hearts ache . . . and yet, I believe they are always around us, trying to comfort us and let us know they are still with us. I believe they want us to be happy, that they want us to live in the "now" and embrace the present for what it is.

I feel very blessed to know that my mom and Lucky are both making an effort to reach out to me and let me know they are still a part of my life, even if they aren't still physically here. I know they aren't the only ones . . . and if you have lost someone, I bet they are trying to give you signs as well. Open your heart and let the signs come in!

ps - I wrote this blog on 7/24. On 7/25, I got into the car to drive to an appointment and guess what song came on??? Yep - "In The Air Tonight"!! I think my mom was letting me know she enjoyed my blog!!!

Scientific Studies on Reiki

2011-07-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

One of my friends sent me some interesting articles this weekend on Reiki and the effort that is being made to scientifically prove that Reiki actually works. While I personally haven't needed any "proof" other than what I have witnessed myself, I know there are a great many people who DO need that proof, so in many ways, this is a positive sign. I was going to cut and paste a few examples, but this whole article was so interesting, I decided to include the whole thing. If you know someone who isn't sure they "buy into this whole energy thing" maybe they would be interested in seeing some of the data that is being collected.

The article references a book called "Hands of Life" by Julie Motz. One of my clients loaned me her copy of the book and it was a fascinating read. Julie has worked in hospitals doing energy work before, during and after transplant surgeries, working with breast cancer patients, etc. She has had some incredible experiences and has bravely gone with energy where most others have been afraid to go, straight into the medical community. If you were interested in learning more about energy and the ways our bodies respond to it, I highly recommend the book.

- Scientific Studies On Reiki

(Excerpt from The Reiki Sourcebook by Bronwen and Frans Stiene)

Usui Mikao is quoted saying in the Reiki Ryôhô Hikkei that the mind and body are one. Recent studies in the world of science are beginning to finally comprehend that statement. Brainwaves and body pulses and their role in stimulating healing can all be measured today allowing the concept of Reiki, as spiritual energy, to be more widely understood by the medical community. The growth of the system of Reiki is benefited by this community awareness and acceptance.

The introduction of Therapeutic Touch by Dolores Krieger into nursing in the 1970s has increased interest in other energetic systems such as Reiki. This in turn has boosted the amount of research that has recently been undertaken using Reiki and other forms of energetic work.

The system of Reiki is also being accepted into hospitals across the world. Patients can often either bring their Reiki practitioner with them or Reiki is made available to them.

The article ‘The first Reiki Practitioner in our O.R.’ by Jeanette Sawyer in 1988 in the AORN Journal describes the steps that were taken to allow a Reiki practitioner into the theatre at the request of a patient during a laparoscopy.

Also in 1988, patients were given the opportunity to experience a 15 minute pre- and post- surgery Reiki treatment. More than 870 patients took part and as a result there was less use of pain medication, shorter stays in hospital and increased patient satisfaction. This was discussed in the article, ‘Using Reiki to Support Surgical patients’ by Patricia and Kristin Aladydy in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.

Heart surgeon, Dr Mehmet Oz, has worked with Julie Motz who used Reiki on his patients. These patients had received heart transplants and had experienced open-heart surgery. She treated 11 patients in total and none of them had the usual post-operative depression. The bypass patients had no post-operative pain or leg weakness and the transplant patients experienced no organ rejection. Julie Motz has written about this experience in her book, ‘Hands of Life’.

Listed below are a number of trials tested on Reiki. For more research details there are some Reiki books with relevant research material, or personal observations, that have been written by both doctors and nurses. ‘Spiritual Healing’ by Daniel J. Benor has listed a number of Reiki trials as well as some very interesting trials on distant healing and healing through touch in general.

There are many aspects of Reiki that are being researched today. Some to see if Reiki speeds up healing, others to see if, how and whom it relaxes, to measure biomagnetic fields and to verify the concept of distant healing.

Here is a well-known trial completed using Reiki to examine its effect on human blood levels.

Human Hemoglobin Levels and Reiki
Reiki Healing: a Physiologic Perspective
Wetzel, Wendy (1989).
Published in Journal of Holistic Nursing 7(1), 47-54.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Reiki on human hemoglobin and hematocrit levels.

Procedure: The hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of 48 adults participating in a Level 1 course were measured. Demographics and motivation were also examined. An untreated control group was used to document the changes in hemoglobin and hematocrit under normal circumstances.

Findings: Using a t-test there was a statistically significant change between the pre- and post-course hemoglobin and hematocrit levels of the participants at the p > 0.01 level. 28 % experiencing an increase and the remainder experiencing a decrease. There was no change for the untreated control group within an identical time frame.

Conclusions: That Reiki has a measurable physiologic effect. The data supports the premise that energy can be transferred between individuals for the purposes of healing, balancing, and increasing wellness. Some individuals found that their blood levels went up while others went down which is consistent with the concept that Reiki is balancing for each individual.

This trial tests Reiki on patients with chronic illnesses using electrodermal screening.

The Efficacy of Reiki Hands on Healing: Improvements in Adrenal, Spleen and Nervous Function as Quantified by Electro-Dermal Screening
Betty Hartwell and Barbara Brewitt
Published in Alternative Therapies Magazine, July 1997, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 89

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Reiki treatments on chronic illnesses using electrodermal screening.

Procedure: This study was carried out on five patients with life-threatening and chronic illnesses: lupus, fibromyalgia, thyroid goiter, and multiple sclerosis. Eleven one-hour Reiki treatments using 4 different Level 2 practitioners and one Reiki Master were performed over a ten-week period. These Reiki practitioners systematically placed their hands over the same body positions including the neurovascular regions on the cranium, neurolymphatic points on the trunk and minor chakra points on the limbs. No new conventional or alternative medical treatments were given during this period. Initially, three consecutive treatments were given and then one treatment per week for eight weeks.

Findings: The patients were tested three times during the study. 1.Before the study commenced. 2.After their third treatment. 3.After their tenth treatment.
Each individual was measured for skin electrical resistance at three acupuncture points on hands and feet. At the cervical/thoracic point the measurements went from 25% below normal to the normal range. The adrenal measurements went from 8.3% below normal to normal - some time between the middle and last measurements. The spleen measurements went from 7.8% below normal to normal after only three sessions. All the patients reported increased relaxation after Reiki treatments, a reduction in pain and an increase in mobility.

These trials are concerned with the effect of Reiki on pain relief and other symptoms.

Pain, Anxiety and Depression in Chronically Ill Patients with Reiki Healing
Linda J. Dressen and Sangeeta Singg
Published in Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1: 1998

Purpose: To measure the results of Reiki and its effect on pain, anxiety, and depression in chronically ill patients.

Procedure: 120 Patients who had been in pain for at least 1 year were trailed. Their complaints included: headaches, heart disease, cancer, arthritis, peptic ulcer, asthma, hypertension and HIV. Four different styles of treatment were performed on 3 groups of 20 people. The 4 styles of treatment were: Reiki, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, no treatment and false-Reiki. Each of the groups received 10 thirty-minute treatments, twice a week over 5 weeks. Patients were examined before and after the series of treatments. Reiki patients were examined 3 months after completion.

Findings: Reiki proved significantly superior (p<.0001-.04) to other treatments on 10 out of 12 variables.

At the 3 month check up these changes were consistent and there were highly significant reductions in Total Pain Rating Index (p<.0006) and in sensory (p<.0003) and Affective (p<.02) Qualities of Pain.

Conclusion: Significant effects of Reiki on anxiety, pain and depression are shown here. Some possible variables were not controlled.

Using Reiki to Manage Pain: a Preliminary Report
alta.karino@cancerboard.ab.ca
Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, USA
Published in Cancer Prev Control 1997;1(2):108-13

Purpose: To explore the usefulness of Reiki as an alternative to opioid therapy in the management of pain. This was a pilot study.

Procedure: 20 volunteers experienced pain at 55 sites for a variety of reasons, including cancer. A Level 2 practitioner provided all Reiki treatments. Pain was measured using both a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a Likert scale immediately before and after each Reiki treatment.

Findings: Both the instruments showed a highly significant (p < 0.0001) reduction in pain following the Reiki treatments.

This trial is interested in finding out if it is possible to gauge the experience of a Reiki treatment using normal trialing procedures.

Experience of a Reiki Session
Engebretson J, Wardell DW
University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, USA
Published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 8: 48-53, 2002

Purpose:To explore the experiences of Reiki recipients so as to contribute to understanding the popularity of touch therapies and possibly clarify variables for future studies.

Procedure: All Reiki treatments were 30 minutes long and performed in a sound proof windowless room by one Reiki Master. There were audio taped interviews immediately after the treatment in a quiet room adjoining the treatment room. The recipients were generally healthy volunteers who had not experienced Reiki previously.

Findings: The recipients described a conscious state of awareness during the treatment. At the same time, paradoxically, they experienced sensate and symbolic phenomena.

Conclusions: Conscious awareness and paradoxical experiences that occur in ritual healing vary according to the holistic nature and individual variation of the healing experience. These findings suggest that many linear models used in researching touch therapies are not complex enough to capture the experience of the recipients.

This particular trial is not specifically about Reiki but deals with the effectiveness of distant healing which is relevant to Reiki practitioners.

A Randomized Double-Blind Study of the Effect of Distant Healing in a Population with Advanced Aids
Fred Sicher, Elizabeth Targ, Dan Moore II, and Helene.S. Smith
Published in the Western Journal of Medicine, December 1998, Vol. 169, pp. 356-363.

Purpose: To find the effect of distance healing (DH) on AIDS patients during a six-month double-blind study.

Procedure: Forty patients with advanced AIDS were randomly divided into two groups. Half the patients received DH in addition to their usual medical care. They were not told they were being given DH. 40 healers from various locations throughout the U.S. with an average of 17 years of experience were used. The healers practiced a variety of healing methods including Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Native American, shamanism, meditative, and bioenergetics. Each of the treated subjects received DH for one hour a day for six days from each of a total of ten different healers, and this was performed over a period of ten weeks.

Findings: After six months, treated patients had significantly fewer outpatient visits and hospitalizations, less severe illnesses, fewer new illnesses, and improved mood.

Further Research
This page is an excerpt from The Reiki Sourcebook.

Raising money for Lupus

2011-06-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my brother, his partner, my sister, my dad, Casey, Duffy and I all participated in a 5K Walk/Run to raise money for the Lupus Foundation. It ended up being a very fun event and it felt good to be doing something to honor my mom. It was interesting to me though that my mom had Lupus for 54 years and yet, this was the first time we had done something as a family to raise money for Lupus. I guess the important thing is that we finally did something, even if it was after she was already gone.

Seven hundred and twenty seven people participated in the 5K and their preliminary count showed the event raised $69,000, a 40% increase over what they had raised last year at this event. While looking at their website, I saw that a drug had just recently been approved for Lupus patients. It is the first approved Lupus drug in 50 years (and they estimate that it would cost a person about $30K/year to be on the drug). I found that a bit disconcerting.

While I was happy to do something to help the cause, and happy to honor my mom, I did still have a small inner conflict . . . the same inner conflict I feel when I am at the grocery store, and the checkout clerk asks you if you want to donate to the cause of the month (this month it is Prostate cancer). It's not that I am against raising money to find cures for diseases, it has more to do with my belief that physical illnesses are rooted in emotional/mental beliefs. I feel sad sometimes that people suffer so much without understanding how truly empowered they are to improve their physical health.

Many years ago, I was introduced to a book by Louise Hay called "Heal Your Body." In the book, she lists out hundreds of physical ailments, what the potential emotional root cause could be and a positive affirmation to help you change the belief you hold. Admittedly, I was not opened to the book when I first saw it, because I didn't want to admit that my own thoughts and emotions could be causing the physical problems I was having. It felt too much like "it's my fault" and the last thing I wanted to feel was "at fault" . . . but over time, (and after being introduced to the book two more times) I finally began to realize how much truth there was in the book and how empowered I truly was to take charge of my health.

I have been pleasantly surprised to discover that the good majority of my human clients have the book too. I enjoy being able to refer to the book and gain insights from it when a client and I are working through some physical pain or illness they are dealing with. Some things can be resolved pretty quickly and some take a lot longer, especially if they are rooted in some really old well ingrained beliefs, but bottom line, I have seen evidence again and again that we really can heal our bodies.

An example of one that I can resolve pretty quickly. . . I used to get a stiff neck all the time and now I barely get them at all, or if I do, I can clear it up in a matter of hours. I'll never forget the first time I looked up "stiff neck" in Louise's book. It said, "Unbending bullheadedness." I laughed my head off because I couldn't deny the truth. Whenever I would get stuck in one of those "I'm right - No, I'm right" push/pull tug of wars, I would instantly get a stiff neck. Now, as soon as I notice what is happening, I can open my mind more to see the other person's perspective, stop being so set on my opinion . . . and the neck pain goes away.

One that I have been working on for years is my hypothyroidism. I was diagnosed when I was in 7th grade, so it's definitely rooted in some old well ingrained beliefs. The emotional root cause is, "giving up, feeling hopelessly stifled" which very accurately describes how I felt as a child and how I feel, on occasion, even now. I have managed to "heal" my thyroid enough that the doctors have twice lowered the level of medication I need to take every day. I hope to continue to heal those old beliefs and thought patterns, so that the dosage can continue to be lowered.

At any rate, I do wish more people realized there was a connection between what they think and believe and feel . . . and how it manifests itself as dis-ease in the body. We have so much more power over our experiences in life than most of us realize. We have the ability to heal the dis-ease that we experience, if we can allow ourselves to look more closely at our deeply held beliefs and decide to change them.

My family is already signed up for the next 5K Walk/Run to raise money for Lupus. It is in October and I will happily participate, to honor my mother . . . and I will also continue to hope that more people will begin to feel empowered to heal their bodies and their lives.

Cricket

2011-06-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbors had to go out of town this past week because of a death in their family. They asked me if I could look in on their almost 15 year old dog Cricket for a few days. They just wanted me to feed him and let him out a couple times a day to go potty, but I told them that I would just bring him to my house, if that was ok with them. They were not expecting that but were pleased none-the-less that Cricket would get to have a 'vacation' while they were out of town.

I brought him over on Wednesday night and since he knows me and since we were just next door, I figured he would settle in quickly, but I was wrong about that. For the first two hours, he paced around the entire house, sniffing every inch of carpet, every nook and cranny, around and around and around he went. I tried distracting him with the dog treats . . . I managed to get him to lay down for a minute or two while I gave him a couple treats but as soon as the treats were gone, he was back to pacing around the house. Nothing I said to him seemed to help, so I decided to just let him do what he needed to do and knew that eventually he would tire himself out.

Having Cricket here was such a different experience for me than living with Lucky. For one, Lucky was very independent and "did her own thing" most of the time. By contrast, Cricket is a little on the needy side. He did not like to be away from me and followed me everywhere I went, including the bathroom. If I sat still for a while, he would finally lay down and relax but the second I moved, he would be up again, not wanting to miss out on a single thing that I did.

If the phone rang, he had to follow me into the kitchen to answer the phone. If I needed to go to another room for a minute, I would try to explain to him what I was doing and that I would be right back, but it didn't seem to make a difference. If I needed to get something from my office upstairs, he followed me up the stairs and then back down the stairs. When I did laundry, he was back and forth to the laundry room with me, observing as I put things in the dryer, or folded the dry clothes. It was almost comical. I never took a single step for three days without him at my heels.

I didn't sleep well the nights he was here, in part because he snored more than any dog I have ever known. I kept waking up in the middle of the night, trying to identify the strange sound I was hearing, then realizing it was Cricket "sawing logs" on his dog bed on the floor, I would roll over and try to go back to sleep . . . until a sound he was making woke me again. If I got up in the middle of the night to go the bathroom, Cricket was up, following me in there and trying to get me to pet him. I said to him several times, "Cricket, you are a sweetheart and I adore you, but you have got to give me a little space!" :-) But his desire for attention and companionship seemed to outweigh any desire I may have had for a little space.

Regardless of my lack of alone time while he was here, I couldn't help being entertained by him and I also found myself in awe that a big dog like Cricket (he's a lab/spaniel mix) could be so healthy and so mobile at his age. For those of us who have struggled through health challenges with our dogs as they grew older, you know what a gift it is to have an older dog who is doing as well as Cricket is. The only issue he has is a lack of hearing but even that didn't stop him from being able to track my every move. :-)

When his family returned, I brought him back home. He was thrilled to see them and they were grateful that he was well taken care of while they were away. I was glad I was able to help them in some small way, when they were going through such a difficult time. I'll confess, I did sleep really well that night and did enjoy going to the bathroom by myself. :-) But I also know that if they needed my help again, I'd take care of him again in a heartbeat.

My dad's birthday

2011-05-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

My father had a birthday this week and even though we had planned to get together as a family to celebrate over the weekend, I hated the idea of my dad being alone on his actual birthday, so I invited him to come over for a home cooked meal on his official birthday. I invited Duffy and Casey, my parents dogs, to join us as well, which seemed to make all three of them very happy.

Before they arrived, I was filled with such a mixture of emotions, I could barely keep up with all the thoughts running through my head and heart. I was excited about them coming over, sad that it would be the first time I had ever celebrated my dad's birthday without my mom here and I knew that from now on, nothing would ever be the same. I worried that I cooked more to my mom's tastes than my dad's (an over-use of garlic), I felt happy and sad as I pulled out Lucky's water bowl and some of her toys for the boys to enjoy, and worried a bit about what my dad and I would talk about since I am happiest when I can talk about my feelings and my dad is happiest when he can avoid any discussion at all of feelings.

When they got here, my dad went straight to the restroom, and I laughed to myself as I was reminded that we were both cursed with the same tiny bladder. Casey quickly made himself at home, walking on the back of the couch, up the arm rest and over to the over-sized chair next to it, wagging his tail the whole time. Duffy was not as comfortable and started to panic that he couldn't find my dad. He ran in and out of every room in a frenzy and could barely breath until he saw my dad emerge from the bathroom.

Once we all settled down on the couch for some appetizers, conversation flowed easily. Much to my surprise, my dad even talked a little bit about his feelings, without my having to pry it out of him. Well, I did start with the question, "How are you doing, dad?" and he replied, "I'm doing fine." So after a pause, I followed up with, "How are you REALLY doing?" and then he did give me a more honest answer. Casey was happy to pick up where Lucky left off in the "unstuffing process" of one of the toys and Duffy occasionally reminded my dad that he too would like to try the appetizer.

We talked about the dinner he had a couple nights earlier with my brother and sister and he mentioned they had gone to Casa Lupe, a restaurant we have gone to as a family since I was a little girl. I was almost relieved I wasn't with them that night because I didn't know if I would be able to handle going to a restaurant that reminded me so much of mom. He asked if I had been there since they expanded and I said, "Yes, I put a picture of mom and I at Casa Lupe after the remodel in my blog . . . have you seen my blog recently?" and he said, "I've never read your blog."

I flinched inside, and I wondered if the day would ever come when I didn't still want my father's approval. My father must have noticed the flinch because he offered some additional explanation . . . that he doesn't spend much time on the internet and that he isn't into Facebook and that kind of stuff. For as much as I wanted to point out there there is a big difference between showing some interest in his daughter's work and Facebook, I knew that was not what was important at that moment, so instead I grabbed my laptop, pulled up my blog and showed him the pictures of mom that I had included in my recent posts. He seemed to enjoy the pictures and conversation began to flow again.

When it was time to eat, my dad assured me that he liked a lot of garlic, so dinner went well. The boys sat at my dad's feet, hoping that he might drop something . . . occasionally reminding him that they were still there, waiting patiently for a taste of his meal. I realized how much I missed sharing food with the dog laying at my feet so I grabbed some noodles without sauce on them to share with the boys and they were thrilled. When it was time for dessert, the boys didn't chime in, so I had to sing "Happy Birthday" all by myself :-) but I managed to do alright.

After dessert, dad and I continued to sit at the table, while guzzling glass after glass of water (did I mention I overdid it with the garlic?) and talked while the boys each found a nice spot on the couch to snuggle in for a nap. My dad and I found all sorts of things to talk about, so much so that we lost track of time. Everyone seemed happy and content, so it appeared that all my pre-dinner mental swirling may not have been necessary.

At any rate, the next morning, when I got up and saw dog toys on the floor and the couch, it made me smile in a way that told me I am more ready to get another dog than I had thought. As I thought more about the previous night, I was reminded of the importance of balance . . . my dad and I found some middle ground because I softened on my desire to talk about feelings the whole time and he was less stoic than he usually is. I realized that even though things will never be the same now that my mom is gone, it doesn't mean they can't be pleasant. They will certainly be different but different doesn't have to be bad. And finally, I reminded myself that what is really important is that *I* believe in what I am doing and as long as I believe in myself, that will be enough.

Honoring My Mom

2011-05-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been so overwhelming, it's almost hard to wrap my mind around everything that has happened. To think that three weeks ago today, I was on my way to the hospital to see my mom . . . less than a week later, she was gone . . . a week after that we were holding a funeral service for her and now . . . a week after that, it's Mother's day.

In moments, I feel acceptance of her passing, in other moments, it doesn't seem real, and in other moments, especially on a day like today, I feel her absence deeply. I suppose it will be like that for a while.

Last Saturday, the funeral mass and reception for my mother ended up being a more beautiful and more enjoyable experience than I could have imagined. The church was filled with a couple hundred people who deeply loved my mother. For an empathic person such as myself, funerals can be extremely difficult, since I literally feel what everyone else is feeling, on top of my own feelings, but much to my surprise, all I felt was the incredible outpouring of love and appreciation for my mom. It made it much easier for a "sensitive" like me.

Since my mom was someone who loved to laugh and loved to party, we wanted her service to be upbeat and full of laughter . . . and it ended up being that and more. I know my mom was pleased to see all of her favorite people gathered together in one place, sharing some laughs and enjoying each others company. I had moments of almost feeling guilty that I was enjoying myself so much, as I visited with relatives, old family friends and neighbors, and joined in the fun of sharing stories about my mom that had everyone chuckling. I kept trying to remind myself that my mom would want us to be enjoying ourselves, and that she would have been disappointed if we sat around crying the whole time.

I have been wondering how my mom will let me know that she is around. The day after her service, I went to lay down on my bed in the middle of the afternoon and heard the strangest sound. It sounded like someone was walking between the ceiling and the floor of the upstairs. Since it was keeping me from napping, I got up to investigate. After about 15 minutes, I was coming up with nothing and was about to give up but something made me open the door to the side yard and much to my surprise, I saw a swarm of bees buzzing around the door. I realized the noise I was hearing was bees actually getting into the wall and cruising around between the first and second floor.

At first, I groaned "Not again" since I just had a bee hive removed from the upstairs wall last fall, but I didn't have the energy to worry about it right then, so I decided I'd just deal with it in the morning and went to lay down in the family room. The next day, I left a message for the Bee Guy and spent the afternoon rescuing bees from inside the house because I kept forgetting about the swarm and leaving the back door opened.

I wondered why the bees came back and I giggled to myself when I remembered that when we found the hive last fall, the Bee Guy told me that they had been building the hive for about a year - and it had been exactly a year since Lucky had passed away. I joked at the time that maybe it was Lucky's way of letting me know she was around. So, since these bees arrived the day after my mom's funeral, I wondered if Lucky and my mom were playing a little joke on me.

Amazingly, before I got a call back from the Bee Guy, the bees disappeared . . . they were just gone and they haven't returned since. It seems they only stayed long enough for me to get the potential significance.

My mom was always known as "The Rose Lady" because of her incredible rose garden, so I told my family the other day that I'll know my mom has visited me if a rose bush suddenly springs up in my backyard. While the rose bush may be a bit far fetched, I am going to continue to look for signs that my mom is around.

And today was definitely a day that I wished for a sign that she was around. I wanted to feel close to her, but my emotions seemed to be getting in the way. I put on an album we used to listen to together when I was growing up, and while it helped some, it didn't help enough. It was a challenging day for sure. I never thought about how difficult Mother's Day is for people who have lost their mother. The one thing that kept ringing in my head today was how much my mom loved to laugh. My mom's brother (and my god father) gave me this picture last week. It was taken when my mom was visiting him in Japan and the picture warmed my heart because I can feel her joy when I look at this picture . . . and it made me think, maybe that's how I will feel close to my mom . . . whenever I can find a reason to laugh.

My mother

2011-04-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, April 17th, I got a call from my dad, saying I needed to come to the hospital to see my mother, as her health had taken a turn for the worse.

On the drive to the hospital, I was hanging onto my optimism . . . after all, we had lived through health scares with my mom my entire life and every time, she managed to bounce back, even when the doctors didn't think it was possible, so I hoped that this time it would be no different.

The thing is, my mom had Lupus, a disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own cells. It cannot be cured, so Lupus patients go back and forth between flare ups and remissions, and during flare ups, my mom would be so fatigued, she could barely function, her joints and muscles would ache severely and when it got bad, various organs would start to shut down and she would be hospitalized.

When I was a little girl, her flare ups would scare the heck out of me and I spent a lot of my early life on edge, believing that any day, she could leave us . . . but I think over time, I began to think she was invincible because time and again, she would be gravely ill and then miraculously get better and go back to being her fun-loving self again.

When I walked into her room last Sunday, something told me that this time it was different. Tears welled up in my eyes as soon as I saw her and at first, I couldn't breath. My optimism began slipping away, as a reality I didn't want to face began to set in. This time, I feared she wasn't going to pull through and I felt so sad for her, and what was happening to her body. She kept saying she wanted her mother, and each time, I felt an ache deep in my heart. I knew it meant she knew that this time it was worse than any time before as well.

Over the years, our relationship was often strained. I think my mom and I probably spent too much time focusing on how we were different. sometimes in funny ways, like how she used to joke that she must have brought the wrong baby home from the hospital, since I didn't like to shop, or wear make up or change my hair style the way she did. Many of our disagreements and hurts over the years were centered on how we were different . . . but as I stood next to her bed, all I could think about was how much we were alike and how much I loved her.

It was a long week, as the family sat in her hospital room day and night, hoping and praying to see any sign of improvement, hoping the doctors would finally figure out how to reverse what was happening to her . . . and I found myself thinking about all the parts of me that came from my mom. It felt good to focus on who she was, and all the ways she had a positive impact on me and the person I have become.

I certainly got my love of animals from her. My mom loved all animals . . . and she loved them deeply. We always had dogs when we were growing up and she adopted stray cats as well. My dad was allergic to cats, so they weren't indoor cats, but she knitted beds for them and fed them and talked to them when she was outside tending to her garden. She supported every animal organization there was . . . even when my parents were having financial difficulty, my mom found a way to still support all her favorite animal organizations.

My love of gardening came from my mom as well . . . from her, I learned how therapeutic it could be to sit in the yard and pull weeds, and how much joy flowers could bring you, when you took the time to appreciate them.

My mom was also one of the friendliest people in the world. She could talk to anyone and had such an ease when it came to conversing with people. I know I learned to do that from her. She frequently struck up conversations with strangers, became friends with the check out clerks at Safeway and the sales people at her favorite clothing stores. Everywhere we went, people knew her and adored her.

Unfortunately, by Thursday, we were forced to accept the fact that there was nothing else the doctors could do for her. One by one, her organs were shutting down and this time, she wasn't going to be able to fight through it, the way she had so many times before. On Friday, April 22nd, my mother passed away. It was incredibly painful and yet it also felt like a huge honor to be there with her, as she left this world.

Amidst the grief, I find comfort in knowing that she is now at peace and free of pain. I smile when I think that she is now with her mother, who she had really been wanting to see, and that there was probably a long line of animal friends waiting to greet her when she arrived.

Healing for Humans

2011-04-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Even though almost half of my clients are human, I don't often write about them in my blog. I think it's because my human healing sessions tend to be deeply personal and I don't think my clients would feel very comfortable with me sharing too much about their sessions.

Still though, my human clients have great insights into their lives and their own healing journeys, they have amazing breakthroughs and tangible results, so I have been trying to find a way to write about the sessions with my human clients, without revealing too much, and at the same time, sharing enough that others can benefit.

I realized the other day that there was a theme running through many of my recent human sessions, and I decided that writing about the theme might be the right way to share some information.

This recent theme is around beliefs . . . the concept that whatever we believe, we manifest in our lives, and even though we may not like what is showing up in our lives, it is always tied to a belief we hold. It may not be a conscious belief, but it is a belief none the less. I have seen again and again that if we want to have a different result in life, we need to figure out what belief brought us the result we don't like and then determine what we want to believe instead.

For instance, if you keep having the experience of people taking advantage of your kindness, then there's a pretty good chance you hold a belief that people can and will take advantage of your kindness. Sometimes, when I bring this up with my clients, they feel like they are stuck with only two choices . . . continue to be nice and have people take advantage of them, or stop being kind to others and be someone they don't want to be. I refer to this as "black and white" thinking and when we only see things in black and white, we often feel like we have no where to go.

Part of the work I do with people is to help them see more options . . . assist them in moving away from "black and white" thinking, so they can see the possibilities. I help them understand what the underlying belief is that is creating unwanted experiences in their lives, help them release the belief if they don't think it serves them any longer and then help them form a new belief, one that will better serve them.

I frequently ask my clients, "What would you like to believe instead?" and this can be a difficult question to answer. I think part of the reason is that we are programmed to believe, on some level, that we can't have what we want or that we don't have any control over what comes into our lives. I work with my clients to help them see that they do deserve to have what they want, and help them feel empowered to make changes in their lives. I work with them to help them release that old programming, so that it is easier to answer the question, "What would you like to believe instead?"

In this case, my client eventually said, "I want to believe that people will appreciate my kindness, and be kind in return." With the assistance of the energy, we allowed the body to release the old belief and then embrace the new belief. Many people think it sounds too easy to work, but I have seen proof again and again that it really is that easy.

Through my work with human clients, we have identified and released beliefs such as, "You can't make money doing what you really love to do," "Men are weak and need to be taken care of" and "Other people's needs are more important than mine" and we replaced those old beliefs with new beliefs, that will help them manifest what they really would prefer to experience in life.

If you look at your own life, are you experiencing things that don't please you? Do you feel that people don't really listen to you? Maybe you are holding a belief that what you have to say isn't important. Do you find that your relationships are difficult and take a lot of energy out of you?" Maybe you are holding a belief that relationships aren't easy and require a lot of work. If so, I'll ask you . . . "What would you like to believe instead?"

Over the years, I have witnessed this enough to form a pretty strong opinion that what shows up in our lives is tied to the beliefs we hold, (often on an unconscious level). Our thoughts and beliefs are incredibly powerful, and yet, so are we. At any time, we can choose to believe something different . . . and then we can have a different experience.

The Dog and the Deer

2011-03-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, you come across something that is too good to not pass along, whether it's a story, a video, a photograph or a great quote. When something touches you that much, you can't help but want others to have the same positive experience . . . and this is one of those times.

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me a video she found on the internet. She and I share an intense love of animals, and have since we were in elementary school, so I had a feeling I was going to enjoy the video . . . but I have to say, out of all the animal videos I have seen, this is by far one of my most favorites.

Every time I even think about the video, it makes me smile. I am not sure why this one touched me so much. It could be because it is moving to see animals of different species have such an amazing bond with one another or it could be that it is just soul-touching to see such a beautiful friendship between two beings, one that is filled with sheer delights as well as harmony.

The video is of a deer and a dog who have an undeniable friendship. They chase each other and frolic in the grass and they lay together on the dog's bed, looking absolutely content to be sharing the space with one another. Their affection for one another is so evident, I don't think anyone could question the connection these two animals have with one another.

Here is a link to the video . . . I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

http://www.dogwork.com/ddsff4/

click here

Getting "signs"

2011-03-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Last fall, my very dear friend Sue lost her beloved dog Butch. Since then, she has been navigating her way through the grieving process . . . dealing with each wave of sadness as it rolled in . . . and trying to find a way to get used to life without her precious dog by her side.

About a month ago, she started talking about her growing desire to adopt another dog. She was back and forth, over whether it was the right time and after spending hours pouring over dog rescue sites and shelter sites, she was also concerned that she wouldn't know which dog was the right one, even if it was the right time. I told her I was sure she would "know" when the right dog came along and suggested she keep an eye out for "signs" that would point her in the right direction.

Last weekend, I got on the computer and found an email from another client of mine. She had recently started volunteering for an animal rescue organization and they were putting the word out that they had six three-month old puppies whom they were looking for homes for. When I looked at the pictures, I saw the puppies were black lab mixes, and I immediately thought of Sue because Butch was a black lab mix. I thought maybe it was a "sign" and then after scrolling down to read the rest of the email, I saw the name of the person you needed to submit your application to . . . and it just happened to be Lucky's former dog sitter. The hair stood up on my arms and I decided to forward the email to Sue.

Sue decided it was a "sign," filled out the application and submitted it the next morning. Twenty four hours later, after being contacted by the rescue group, she was off to meet two of the remaining available puppies and about an hour after that, she was on her way home with a new puppy . . . she named him Mingus, after one of her favorite jazz musicians, Charles Mingus.

I went over the next night to meet her new little friend and the joy he brought with him to her house was absolutely contagious. We couldn't stop smiling the whole evening. Since he is being treated for worms right now, his tummy was really unhappy, so I gave him a little reiki treatment. Sue and I were shocked to see that he immediately slipped into a little trance, just the way Butch used to. We were both overcome with the feeling that this was meant to be.

Sue was still in a bit of a quandary though . . . several of her friends had suggested she get two dogs, so they could play with one another and not be lonely when she was at work. While she thought it was a good idea in some ways, she wasn't sure she was ready for TWO dogs, especially since she hadn't slept much since Mingus had arrived. She was going back and forth over her options, weighing the pros and cons, etc. The one puppy from Mingus' litter that remained was a boy and he was really skittish. She had been thinking about getting one boy and one girl, but all the girls in his litter had already been spoken for. Once again, I suggested that she trust the Universe. I told her I believed that if it was meant to be, it would come together easily, that she wouldn't have to work so hard to figure out what to do.

The next morning, the rescue group called her back and told her the adoption of one of the girl puppies had fallen through and they wanted to know if she would like to adopt her too. Sue took it as the "sign" we were talking about the night before and later that night, she was the proud mom of yet another puppy. She named her Nina, after another of her favorite jazz musicians, Nina Simone.

Nina and Mingus were thrilled to be united (after an initial bout of confusion) and have been playing non-stop with each other since Nina's arrival. I went over there this weekend to meet Nina and get another puppy-fix. There's nothing like a puppy to make you smile from your toes all the way to the top of your head and when you multiply that by two . . . well . . . Sue and I couldn't stop smiling. Even though Sue has only had a minimal amount of sleep in the last week, she hasn't been this happy since Butch passed away. As her friend, I have to say, it was really nice to see her so happy again.

Before I left, Sue asked me a question that touched me deeply . . . she asked me if I would be Mingus and Nina's god mother. It was a huge honor to be asked and of course, I said "Yes?" So, now I have two darling little god-children. I look forward to looking out for them over the years and providing whatever love and guidance they may need along the way.

Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance

2011-02-28T17:35:00.000-08:00

Back in January, I wrote about my dog client, Kaya, who had been receiving reiki along with her chemotherapy. I had been thrilled to see that Kaya never experienced any of the usual side effects of chemotherapy and her mom and I were sure it was the reiki that had made that possible. It made me wish that more people would try alternative treatments, not only for their animals, but for themselves as well, if they were faced with cancer.

The morning after I posted that blog, I got an email from a woman named Jackie at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, (www.mesothelioma.com) home asking me if I would like to be listed on their website as a reiki resource, in their alternative treatments section. I couldn't believe it. The timing was not something I could ignore. I put the idea out there to the Universe and in less than 24 hours, I got a response. It was exciting to think there was a big organization out there who understood the important role alternative treatments can play in our health and well-being.

I exchanged a few emails with her and checked out their website as well, to learn more about the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance, and I have to say, I was really impressed. This is an organization that is doing everything they can to help people with a cancer diagnosis (and while their focus is on mesothelioma, I believe almost everything on their site could apply to anyone with any type of cancer). I know many people who have received a cancer diagnosis and it often felt like the equivalent to a death sentence . . . but on this particular website, it is clear that their intention is for people to get WELL. Everything about it felt really positive.

When I got on the website, I first clicked on their alternative treatments tab to see what they recommended (www.mesothelioma.com/treatment/alternative) alternative and found thirty-three alternative options! Most of them are treatments that I am very familiar with and I couldn't help but feel excited that there was an organization out there who really understands the benefits of alternative treatments. They seemed to be communicating the very same thing that I was writing about in December . . . that often times, a combination of eastern and western medicine can be a powerful and effective approach to dealing with cancer, that we don't have to go all western or all eastern.

Through my email exchanges with Jackie, I found out that animals can get mesothelioma as well. (www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-cancer/pets-animals) pets which surprised me. While most animals don't have a "job" where they are exposed to asbestos, very often they are the pets of people who have been exposed. If the asbestos is on their guardians clothes when they come home from work, there's a chance that pets can end up getting mesothelioma. What was encouraging is that they believe animals would benefit from all the same treatment options they offer humans and encourage animal guardians to explore their recommended resources.

I was so impressed with the work they are doing, that I told Jackie I was going to write about their organization in my blog. Knowing how scary and overwhelming a cancer diagnosis can be, it was comforting to think there was an organization out there that was trying to collect all the information a person might need, all in one place. The fact that the website is well organized and easy to navigate made me even more interested in putting the word out about their website. One page on their website summarizes all the resources a person might need to explore, from doctors, to hospitals, to alternative treatments to experimental treatments. (www.mesothelioma.com/community/) community

While I don't wish for anyone (human or animal) to get a cancer diagnosis, it is nice to know there are resources out there that can assist people in finding the help they need, and also nice to know that alternative treatments are becoming more widely recognized as a viable approach to treating cancer. I encourage you to look at their website and maybe bookmark a few of these pages, in case you ever come across someone who is needing some help. With all this information in one place, it could save someone hours and hours of their own research.

Animal Communication

2011-02-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

People often assume that all animals are very eager to talk up a storm when given the opportunity to visit with an animal communicator but in actuality, communicating with animals can be as complex as communicating with people because there are so many similarities.

I am sure you know people who always have something to say and are very eager to share what's on their mind . . . and I am sure you know people who are quiet and would rather listen to others than share what they are thinking. Animals are the exact same way.

You probably know people who are very trusting and have no issue at all revealing personal information, even after they have only just met someone . . . and you probably also know people who need to build up a certain level of trust before they will reveal anything personal. Animals are the exact same way.

As an animal communicator, it is important to me that I always honor the animal I am working with and their particular method of communicating. It doesn't do me any good to try to force an animal to communicate if they aren't ready, just as it doesn't do me any good to not pay attention to an animal that has a lot to say. :-)

Often times, an animal will be shy about communicating with me, if they aren't sure how their guardian feels about it (after all, their loyalty is to their guardian, not to me) so I often ask the guardians to speak with their animals before an appointment with me and let them know it's ok to share information with me. That helps most of the time, but in some cases, animals will still need a little time to develop some trust with me, before they will open up too much.

The other funny thing about communicating with animals is that they don't use all the same words we do, or have all the same understanding of things that we do. It is important to keep that in mind, and to try to explain things from their perspective, in terms that they will understand.

It brings to mind a funny memory of my sweet girl, Lucky. Many years ago, we went away for the weekend with some friends of mine. It was one of the first times I remember being on a trip where other women were in the house with us and fortunately for me, one of the other women was also an animal communicator (which was helpful to me at the time because sometimes I couldn't "hear" Lucky as well as I could "hear" other animals).

It was the first morning after our trip had begun and we were all taking showers. I took a shower first, then one of the other gals took a shower. When she came out of the bathroom, Lucky was standing in the hall, looking at her oddly and then she barked at her a couple of times. She yelled to me in the kitchen and said, "Why is Lucky barking at me?" and I honestly didn't have a clue. I could feel concern coming from Lucky, but I couldn't pick up anything else.

Just then, the third gal (the other animal communicator) walked out of the bedroom and said, "Lucky wants to know why you are wearing her mom's hat." It took me a minute to understand what that meant, but once I did, we all laughed hysterically (and then I quickly explained to Lucky that we weren't laughing AT her, we were laughing with her).

The "hat" Lucky was referring to was the towel wrapped around my friends head. I realized that Lucky had never seen anyone but me come out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around their head, because she and I lived alone. It made perfect sense from her perspective. :-) I explained to her that most women wrap a towel around their head when they get out of the shower, that it wasn't just me, and that she would be seeing all of us with towels on our heads through out the weekend. After that, Lucky was fine and she never barked at anyone again when they were donning the post-shower "hat."

So, remember, if you are trying to communicate with your pets yourself, or working with an animal communicator, your animals each have their own "style" as well . . . they may be talkative, they may be more hesitant to speak up, or they may need more time to get comfortable with the idea of sharing what's on their mind. The important thing is to honor their method of communicating. The one thing I can tell you for sure, is that what an animal chooses to share is always valuable, and always worth hearing.

The Mystery Spot

2011-02-06T15:31:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I went to the Mystery Spot in the Santa Cruz mountains. It had been eighteen years since I had been there, and that was long before I was working with energy the way I am now, so I was eager to go and see what I would experience this time.

For those of you not familiar with the Mystery Spot, it consists of a circular area (about 150 feet) in the middle of the redwoods, explained as a gravitational anomaly. It was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940.

In this specific area, there are variations in gravity, perspective and height that no one has ever been able to explain. Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in the earth as a guidance system for spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact a spacecraft itself, buried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world or radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery. (Source: www.mysteryspot.com)

Aside from the odd things that you can see up there (things roll uphill, you can lean forward farther than you ever imagined possible, without falling over, people look taller or shorter depending on where they stand, etc), there is also something that I found interesting . . . birds never fly over the area (within that 150 foot space), animals are never seen there, not even insects. Given that I believe animals know a lot of things we don't, or that they sense things to a greater magnitude that we do, I was extra curious to experience the Mystery Spot again and see what I was able to pick up intuitively, about the place in general and more specifically, about why the animals stay away.

Much to my disappointment, from the moment we stepped into the "spot," it was as if my intuition wouldn't work at all. It was such a strange experience. I felt woozy and nauseous, my legs felt like they weighed 200 lbs. each and I could barely walk without holding onto something. Still, I was fascinated by the experience and tried to pay attention to everything our guide was telling us. I wanted to take it all in but I was having trouble concentrating. I wanted to see what I could pick up myself, but I felt like I was not in control of my body most of the time nor connected to my intuition.

There were so many things I wanted to ask our tour guide, questions I had come up with before we got there, such as; Why aren't animals allowed up there? What do they think would happen to an animal if they were at the Mystery Spot? What were their theories on why birds and other animals avoided the area? etc. but once we were there, my brain wouldn't work well enough to remember that I had even planned on asking questions.

At one point, I attempted to participate in one of the "activities" in cabin, in the center of the Mystery Spot. In this particular spot, if you grabbed ahold of the bar in a door jamb, your body would float toward the side wall of the cabin, without any effort on your part at all. After stumbling over to the door jamb and grabbing ahold of the bar, I lifted myself up off the ground, and just as they said it would, the lower half of my body floated at an angle. The weird thing was that I could barely hold onto the bar. My arms felt so weak, it felt as if my legs literally DID weigh 200 lbs. apiece. My arms were shaking so much, I could barely hold on, which was so odd to me because I am in pretty good shape and can do a chin up without much effort and this was far easier than a chin up.

After the "photo op" I stumbled over to our guide and managed to ask one question, (still not remembering at that point that I had lots of other questions I wanted to ask). I said, "Why do you think my arms were so weak when I tried to do that?" and his response was, "Your body must not like the energy here." I can't say I disagreed. Clearly, I was experiencing the "energy" of the place far more intensely than everyone else there, and it wasn't a good experience, from the standpoint that I don't enjoy feeling that woozy, heavy, weak and uncoordinated.

Even though I was really affected by the energy and left without asking any of my questions, I was still glad that I went. It was certainly an interesting experience. While I don't completely understand why animals stay away (and why pets aren't allowed in), I wouldn't be surprised if the answer was as simple as . . . the animals feel the same way I did, or worse, when they are at the Mystery Spot.

For now, I guess this will remain a "mystery" . . . but it is still such a fascinating place. If you haven't experienced it yourself, I recommend going. If nothing else, it will certainly give you a lot to think about.

Reiki and chemotherapy

2011-01-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

A month or two ago, I wrote about one of my clients, a sweetheart of a dog, named Kaya. She was going through chemotherapy and her guardian had me giving her reiki treatments as well, to give her the best chance at recovery.

Well, last week, I went to give Kaya a reiki treatment, following her very last round of chemotherapy. The veterinarian had done a battery of tests that week, including a sonogram, and he concluded that Kaya is now cancer free! There is no way to quantify the effects (i.e. if it was the chemotherapy or the reiki or the combination of both that made the cancer go away). All I know is, Kaya's family and I were thrilled with the news and I think Kaya was pretty happy too!

Kaya didn't suffer any of the normal side effects of chemo and her mom and I are confident that it was the reiki that helped with that. The doctors had never seen a dog go through chemo, without nausea and GI problems, lethargy, etc. so they were quite stunned that Kaya never experienced any of those things. I certainly felt them when I would go see her the day after each chemo treatment, but by the end of the treatment, all those symptoms would be gone and she would feel great until her next round of chemo.

When I was with Kaya last week, I explained to her that she was all better now and that she wouldn't have to go to the vet for anymore treatments. I asked her if there was anything she needed and she actually requested a bath. :-) She could still smell the medicine in her skin and fur and she wanted it to be gone. She wanted a fresh start, so to speak. I passed the message along to her mom and she said she'd be more than happy to make sure Kaya got a bath the next day. I think it's the first time an animal ever told me that WANTED a bath, but I could certainly understand her reasoning.

It gives me hope that maybe people and animals who are going through chemotherapy could get some relief from their symptoms with the addition of some reiki. It is definitely worth considering if you or your pet are going through that type of cancer treatment.

While I am going to miss my visits with Kaya, I am actually happy that she doesn't need to see me anymore. At the end of our session last week, she did something she had never done before. She rolled over on her back and let me give her a belly rub. She made all sorts of cute noises and looked as happy and playful as a puppy. I knew she was telling me that she was going to be just fine. It left me with a very good feeling when I drove away from their house for the last time.

Lucky Chance

2011-01-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been getting the sense that Lucky was going to come back into my life again, this time as a male german shepherd. The thought gives me a peaceful feeling . . . since it comes as a quiet "knowing" as opposed to a desperate desire. It's just nice to think about the fact that she may come back again. It hasn't felt like it was going to be anytime soon, so I haven't given it too much thought . . . that is until this week.

The anniversary of Lucky coming into my life was January 12th (It was the day I won the lottery at the SF SPCA fifteen years ago) so my sweet girl was on my mind a lot this past week. The night before that anniversary, I began thinking about the possibility of her coming back and wondered how I would know it was her. I decided to pose the question before I went to sleep to see if I got any answers in my dreams that night. I didn't have high hopes for an answer, because I have posed questions before, and either didn't remember my dreams in the morning, or my dreams were so weird, there was no way to try to pull an "answer" out of the weirdness. ;-)

This time though, I woke up about 3:30am with what I think was an answer to my question. My heart was racing, as I woke with a bit of a startle, and there was a phrase running through my head . . . a german shepherd named Chance. I sat there for a few minutes, contemplating what was happening . . . the name Chance ringing in my head . . . I wasn't sure if I should believe it was an answer to my question, but I don't know why else I would have been startled awake at that hour, with a clear name in my head. Eventually, I fell back asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, on the 12th, I was relieved that I didn't feel sad, like I did last year on our "anniversary," when I felt so overwhelmed with grief, I couldn't leave the house. Instead, I felt light and I felt like I just wanted to honor this special day. I watched the video of the news coverage of her adoption and it made me smile. It felt nice to remember how magically we came together and what a profoundly positive impact she had on my life. I think I will always feel a tremendous amount of gratitude on the 12th of January, because having Lucky come into my life was probably one of the best thing that ever happened to me. It certainly put me on a path I am grateful to be on.

That night, I got home late from my last client appointment of the day. It was about 11pm and even though I knew I should just go to bed, I decided to watch a little TV. I sat down on the couch and started channel surfing. After flipping through quite a few channels, a movie caught my attention. It was on the Hallmark or Lifetime channel and it looked interesting so I put the remote down for a minute to see what the movie was about. Within about two minutes, one of the characters was introducing himself to a pretty blonde lady on the show and he said, "Hi, my name is Chance." My jaw dropped. I thought it was such an odd coincidence. It made me giggle and I wondered if it was a sign that my dream was indeed an answer to my question. After all, Chance is not a very common name.

The next day, I told one of my best friends about how I woke up with the name Chance in my head and then saw a movie with a character named Chance. This kind of stuff is a little "out there" for him but as always, he did his best to be supportive. He said, "Well, it kinda makes sense, Lucky and Chance are similar names with similar meaning." I thought it was pretty cool and decided I would just keep an open mind to any german shepherds I encountered named Chance, although I still didn't feel like it was going to be anytime soon.

The next day, I was out running errands and was waiting to pull into a shopping center parking lot. I had to wait for a car turning in from the other direction and when I pulled in behind the gold sedan, I noticed the personalized license plate. I knew the collection of letters spelled "Luckychance." My mind began swirling as I drove down the aisle and pulled into the first opened space. I looked over at the next aisle, and saw the gold sedan slowing down to pull into a parking space . . . and I noticed my heart was starting to race.

I suddenly felt a sense of urgency to get out of the car, because I wanted to look at the license plate again and I wanted to see exactly how it had been spelled, as I couldn't remember if it was "LKYCHANC" or "LUKYCHNC." I grabbed my purse and my phone, jumped out of the car and quickly walked over to the next aisle, looking at gold sedan's parked in that aisle. Not a single one had a personalized license plate. I started wondering if I was losing my mind, as I began walking up and down that aisle and the next one over, looking at every gold car's license plate. There were probably 15 or more gold sedans and not a single one had a personalized plate. I took a walk up and down the aisles again, thinking maybe I had the color of the car wrong, so I looked at every single license plate on every single car but it was no where to be found. It was as if it had magically disappeared.

I laughed to myself, when I realized I was bordering on being a little crazy, as I walked up and down the aisles of the parking lot, stalking a car that seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I figured I ought to just go into the store and finish what I had come there for, but I couldn't help feeling an odd excitement pulse through my veins. I liked thinking that I was getting messages from the Universe, and I was happy that I was noticing the clues I was being given.

I still don't feel like I am going to be getting a dog anytime soon. It continues to feels like it's a ways off, like maybe next fall, but it still feels good. I like thinking that I may now have the information I need to know it's the "right" dog for me, when I meet him. I guess only time will tell . . . but I have a feeling I will be writing more about this later in the year. Stayed tuned!

Animals can show us our fears

2011-01-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

While it is common knowledge that animals pick up on how we feel, what some people may not realize is that animals can even pick up on the uncommunicated feelings that we have. It's why there are cases where a dog guardian is walking their dog and even though they are displaying confidence, their animal still picks up on the concern they feel about an approaching dog or person. When the dog reacts to that dog or person, their first reaction might be, "But I was talking in a happy voice and telling my dog not to be concerned, why did he react that way?" The truth is, it was because the dog was picking up on what their guardian was REALLY feeling.

Over the years, I have had many experiences with my clients where the animal is picking up on feelings their guardian isn't even aware they have, which makes me realize that animals are adept at tapping into our deepest levels of energy, our deepest level of feelings . . . and if we really pay attention, we will realize how much they can help us.

One client in particular owned a store and loved to bring her dog to work with her, but her dog would sometime bark and growl at the customers. Obviously, that wasn't good for business so she asked me if I could help. When I did a session with the dog, I felt the dog was tapping into a fear that the guardian held deep inside her, and that was why she reacted the way she did with certain customers. It didn't resonate with the client at the time, so I didn't push it.

A few weeks later, the guardian called me and was very excited. She said she had just remembered something, from about twenty or more years ago . . . at the time, she was working in her mom's store, and they were robbed at gunpoint. She hadn't thought about it in years and had forgotten it had even happened, but when the memory popped back into her mind, she realized that must have been what her dog was picking up on.

I asked her if she held any fear that it could happen again and she wasn't sure. We decided to do a reiki treatment with her and see if we could help her body release that old memory. During the session, she realized that she DID still hold a fear that it could happen again, in part because she still felt responsible for not being able to stop the robbers. We worked on releasing the responsibility she still felt and helping her feel empowered again. At the end of the session, she felt much better about it, felt much more at peace about what had happened all those years ago.

Since then, her dog has happily been joining her at her store every day and no longer barks and growls at customers. She now believes that if her dog DOES bark or growl, it will be because there really is a person in the store she should be concerned about, not because of an old fear that she held deep inside her. And she is grateful to her dog, for helping her see that there was something from the past that she needed to release.

It is worth considering . . . if your pet is behaving in a way that concerns you . . . they might be reacting to a feeling you have, that isn't even on a conscious level. And maybe they are in your life to help you finally let go of that old feeling.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I had the TV on while I was working on the computer, and my ear caught the first line of an old Roberta Flack song that I used to love . . . "The first time, ever I saw your face" . . . I looked up at the TV and saw the faces of sad, neglected animals and my eyes immediately welled up with tears . . . I felt a deep ache in my heart as I reached for the remote to change the channel. I wanted to keep listening to the song because I have always loved the song, and I didn't want to ignore the message that the animal organization was trying to share, but at the same time, I couldn't think about all the neglected animals in the world. My heart just couldn't handle it.

Every time that commercial has come on since then, I find myself diving for the remote. I can't get the channel changed fast enough, because even if I don't look at the TV, the images of those sad faces are still in my brain and I immediately tear up the second I hear the song. I was disappointed to think that I might not ever be able to listen to that song again, without getting overly emotional.

I looked up the lyrics the other day, and realized that the first part of the song could probably be sung by anyone who has even had and loved an animal . . . "The first time, ever I saw your face, I thought the sun rose in your eyes, and the moon and starts were gifts you gave." It really is a beautiful song, although I had always thought of it more as a wedding song, than a "please help the animals song."

Anyway - it just got me thinking about how many animals out there really need help and I started to feel discouraged, the way I did when I was volunteering for an animal rescue organization . . . . when you realize that no matter how much you do, there are a million more animals you haven't helped yet and your efforts start to feel futile.

I wanted to get out of that discouraged mindset, and focus on something more positive, like the animals who HAVE been helped . . . when all of the sudden an email arrived from one of my clients. She told me that she had been able to donate 57 dogs toys and 44 cat toys, in honor of her dog who passed away this past year. I wrote her back a note saying, "Just think about all the happiness you created at the shelter!" It made me smile all day, thinking about those dogs and cats at the shelter that found joy from having a new toy to play with. I am sure it gave them hope to know that someone cared about them.

Then this morning, I got on the computer to find an email from another one of my clients, with a link to a website in Minnesota that had pictures of German Shepherds frolicking in the snow. It was so fun to scroll through the pictures of happy dogs, having a great time in the aftermath of the blizzard. So, thanks to my clients, I'm staying focused on happy thoughts, in spite of the number of times the commercial with the Roberta Flack song has come on.

If you'd like to see the "snow dogs" here's the link: http://www.sablerockkennels.com/blizzard2010.html

I hope it makes you smile as much as it made me smile. Wishing you all a very happy new years. May you be blessed in 2011 with everything your heart desires!!!

Spring has Sprung

2010-12-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

A week and a half ago, I was out in the yard and discovered, much to my surprise and delight, that one of my daffodils had decided to make an early appearance. Normally, daffodil bulbs don't bloom until February or March, so I was quite intrigued by the December arrival. When my friend Sue came over that week, I made her come out in the yard to see the daffodil. She commented that it was a sign of hope from the Universe. I said, "Are you sure the Universe isn't trying to tell me that it's ok to be impatient?" We had a good laugh about that, as I have been known to be a bit impatient and I liked the idea that the daffodil might be encouraging that particular trait of mine.

A week later, I noticed a second daffodil had arrived. Having ONE was a big enough surprise, but to have TWO daffodils make an early appearance made me think the Universe was trying to get my attention. I looked up the meaning of daffodils and found that they are a sign of new beginnings, rebirth and hope. They can also be a sign of faith, honesty, truth and forgiveness. I found another website that says they are the symbol of unrequited love and "you're the only one for me." I wondered what these daffodils were trying to tell me, as there were so many possibilities.

Today, on Christmas day, a THIRD daffodil sprung up. I was stunned. I have had daffodil bulbs in my yard for fifteen years and I have never had one come up in December, let alone three. I think someone is definitely trying to get a message to me, although I am not entirely sure what the message is.

The interesting thing is, my admiration of daffodils has never been a casual thing. I have been fascinated with them since I was a little girl. They were my favorite flower, from as far back as I can remember. I don't know why, I was just crazy about them. When my parents let me pick out wallpaper for my childhood bedroom, I picked out daffodil wallpaper and I even had a bright yellow comforter and canopy cover to match. You could say I was obsessed with daffodils and I always have been. Even today, while my tastes have moved away from garish wallpaper, I do still have a variety of daffodil pictures adorning my walls.

The two things I remember most from my childhood were my intense love of daffodils and german shepherds. It was as if I was born having an unquenchable thirst for both, yet all my yearning for them never panned out. Throughout my childhood, we never had daffodils in our yard (But I remember getting in big trouble once for picking some out of someone else's yard on the way home from school). And while I begged and begged for a german shepherd, my parent's response was always, "You can have one, when you have your own house."

Fifteen years ago when I bought my house, the first thing I did was plant a bunch of daffodil bulbs. Two months later, I saw Lucky on the news and knew she was supposed to be mine. A month later, I won the lottery at the SPCA and finally had the german shepherd I had always wanted.

A couple months after that, the daffodil bulbs I had planted in October finally bloomed and for the first time in my life, I had my own daffodils. It was as if my life was complete at that moment . . . my childhood dreams had been realized . . . I finally had a german shepherd and I had daffodils to boot! Unfortunately for me, Lucky had a different kind of interest in the daffodils. As soon as they bloomed, I would catch her with her mouth closed tightly over one of the daffodils in the yard. When I would say, "What are you doing?" she would freeze and pretend she didn't know I was talking to her. After a minute of being "frozen" she would gently remove her mouth from the daffodil, leaving it slobbery but not totally ruined. I always had to supervise her in the yard, reminding her to leave the daffodils alone. I don't know if she was jealous of the attention they got from me or what, but she was definitely obsessed with the daffodils, although not in the same way I was.

So, I find it extra curious that these three daffodils would show up in December this year, given that they have always held a special place in my heart, as did Lucky. Maybe it's Lucky letting me know she's still around. Even though the weather has been cold and wet, I have found myself spending a lot more time in the yard and it is hard not to smile when I see them. While I am not entirely sure what the message is that I am supposed to be getting from their early arrival, they have brought me a lot of joy the last week and a half. I suppose for tonight, that is enough of a message.

Preparing Animals for the Holidays

2010-12-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

This time every year, I feel compelled to write a plea to animal guardians, to consider their animals during the holiday season. This is a crazy time of year, not just for us but for our animals as well. For animals who live in our homes, it can be very confusing. WE know what's going on, but they don't always understand and it can make the holidays even more stressful for them. This is especially true for animals that are new to our home, but it still applies to animals who have been with us a while and have been through a few holidays seasons.

You may experience all sorts of frustrating experiences, such as your dog deciding to "water" the christmas tree, or your cat who removes half the ornaments from the tree while you are away at work. They may unwrap gifts that have been placed under the tree, or chew through a string of lights. This behavior is typically telling you that the holidays are stressful for them too and chances are, they don't understand what all the hoopla is about.

If you think about it from their perspective, this is what they see:

- People coming and going, with no one sticking to the regular schedules and routines

- Packages being brought into the house, that they aren't supposed to get into

- Trees being dragged into the house, that get a lot of our attention, especially during the decorating process

- Lots of food being prepared in the kitchen, that they don't necessarily share get samples of

- People coming over, sometimes spending the night, often displacing them from their usual hang out spots

They often get yelled at or spoken to in a firm voice. We say things like:

- Get out of those packages, those aren't for you

- Get out of the tree, you are going to break the ornaments

- Stop drinking the water from the tree stand - you have a water bowl

- Don't you dare pee on that tree

- Go in the other room, Aunt Gertrude is allergic to dogs/cats

- You can't lay in the kitchen when I am cooking

It's all very confusing to them and they often don't end up enjoying the holiday season very much. I think the holidays could be much more enjoyable for everyone if we just talked to our animals and explained what was going on. If we can manage their expectations, they can be a part of the celebrations, instead of adding another element of stress to it.

Many people talk about how their animals behave strangely during the holidays and most of the time, I believe it is because they don't understand what is going on. Their regular routine is changed up and they often feel ill at ease because of it.

Imagine if your spouse brought home bags of "goodies" but told you that you couldn't touch them. Wouldn't that make you extra curious about what was in those bags? What if a bunch of people showed up and decided to spend the night without telling you ahead of time? Wouldn't that potentially put your nose out of joint? Especially if those people set up camp in your bedroom and you didn't know where you were supposed to sleep?

If you put yourself in your animals shoes for a moment, you can better understand how it feels from their perspective. Here are some tips:

If you are bringing a christmas tree into the house, explain to them that it is for decoration. Let them know you are making sure it has plenty of water so they don't feel the need to water it themselves. :-) Explain to them that the things hanging on the tree are not for them to play with or eat. Then make sure they know where the things are that they CAN play with and eat.

If you are going to have a house full of people, let your animals know. Tell them . . . this many people are coming and this is how long they are staying.

If you want your animal to do anything different, please let them know. If your animal is going to have to sleep somewhere where they aren't used to sleeping, tell them that and explain why. Let them know how long this new arrangement will last.

If your animal is used to having quiet time to rest in the house and you know that isn't going to be easy when you have a house full of people, tell them where they can go to be "alone" if that's what they need. Give them a specific room in the house they can go to if they need to "get away from it all."

Include them in the celebration in whatever way you can. Whether that is feeding them at the same time the rest of you all are sitting down to eat so they feel they are having a special meal too, or giving them something to unwrap when the rest of you are unwrapping your gifts, let them know they are part of what is going on too.

I believe the holidays can be happier for all of us - 2-legged and 4-legged alike, if we can set everyone's expectations for how things are going to be different for a few days or weeks. Your animals will thank you - in their own special way!

Reiki and Chemotherapy

2010-12-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes people think you either need to go "all western" or "all eastern" in your approach to medical care but I have seen the positive effects of using a combination of both eastern and western medicine and it makes me think they can complement each other in many cases. I don't actually think there is a right or wrong way to approach health care. I think what is probably most important is that we do what feels right to US and trust our own instincts.

Earlier this fall, I started giving reiki treatments to a dog who was going through chemotherapy. Her name is Kaya and she is an absolute sweetheart. She is a big, beautiful mix breed dog, with golden retriever, german shepherd and maybe another breed too. She had a large cancerous tumor removed from her hip and the vet recommended chemotherapy. Kaya's mom agreed to do the chemotherapy but decided she wanted to include reiki in Kaya's health regiment as well because she wanted to give Kaya the best chance at recovery. Kaya's mom and I were both hopeful that the reiki would help and at the same time, we were unsure of what it would actually do. We knew we needed to just give it a try and see what the results were.

I have been going to see Kaya the day after each round of chemo, which she receives every three weeks, and so far we are really pleased with how she has been doing. She is still her normal happy self and she gives me such an enthusiastic greeting when I come to see her that I feel like I am "Queen for a Day." Kaya's vet is amazed that she has had none of the normal side effects from chemo. She hasn't lost her appetite, she is not lethargic, she hasn't had any G. I. issues. She is doing exceptionally well. There was one time that her liver enzymes were out of whack, so they decided to hold off on her treatment that week. Kaya's mom had me come and give her a reiki treatment and I focused much of the session on her liver. The next week, when she got her blood work done, everything was back in balance again and she was able to resume treatment.

I know one of the reasons many people opt not to go the chemo route, is because of the side effects and their concern that their animal's quality of life will diminish too much during the treatment. That is one of the reasons it's been so exciting for me to see how much the reiki treatments are helping Kaya through her chemotherapy treatments. It makes me wonder if other animals (and people) would have an easier time going through chemo if they received some energetic support to keep their bodies in balance. After seeing the way Kaya has responded, it certainly fills me with hope that it is a possibility.

Gratitude

2010-11-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving occurring this week, I found myself thinking a lot about what I was grateful for. Surprisingly, the day I was able to most easily tap into my gratitude was Monday, when I was at a funeral. The mother of one of my best friends from high school passed away and I went to the service they held for her. I know it may sound kind of odd that I felt gratitude on such a sad occasion but it was a very touching experience and I have been reflecting on it all week.

I haven't seen much of my old group of girlfriends in the last twenty seven years. We were all incredibly close in high school, but we slowly drifted apart in the years that followed. Our lives just seemed to take us in different directions. When I heard about Shannon's mom passing away, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to be at the service, that I needed to be there for her.

I was a little nervous when I first walked into the church, in part because they started with a rosary and I don't know how to do one of those . . . despite my catholic upbringing. My nervousness started to dissipate when I looked around the church and I saw that almost everyone from my old gang had also made sure they were there to lend their support to Shannon on such a difficult day. Life may have taken us in different directions, but when Shannon needed us, we were all there. I slid into a pew next to one of my old friends, Wendy, and after a quiet but heartfelt hello, we sat there respectfully observing the rosary. (Wendy, who was also raised catholic, didn't know how to do a rosary either, which made me feel a little bit better).

During the service, stories were shared about Shannon's mom and there was one story in particular that really touched me because it so accurately and so beautifully described Shannon's mom. She had the biggest heart, and the thing that I always remembered about her was that her kindness occurred without any effort. It was just who she was.

This particular story was about a time their family had gone to a local restaurant for dinner. Their waitress was doing a terrible job, moving as slow as molasses, forgetting what they had ordered, bringing the wrong things to the table, etc. Most people would have been really frustrated by the bad service and would have either complained to management or become short tempered with the waitress but not Shannon's mom.

Instead, she called the waitress over to their table and said, "Honey, are you doing alright?" The waitress's eyes immediately filled with tears and Shannon's mom asked her to sit down at their table and talk to her. The waitress said she'd get in trouble if she sat down, but Shannon's mom was not deterred. She said, "Don't worry, I'll smooth things over with your manager. It looks like you could really use some support right now." Because of the genuineness of her request, the waitress sat down and proceeded to tell Shannon's mom what was going on in her life that had her so upset and distracted. I don't even remember what that part of the story was, probably because it wasn't as important to me. I just remember being in awe as I heard of the kindness Shannon's mom showed the waitress in that moment, when most people, including me, would probably have just be irritated by the bad service.

After they had talked for a while, the waitress was able to get back to work and the service they received from that point on was wonderful . . . and not just their table, but all the tables in her section. She was able to be fully present and do her job well because someone had been present for her. Someone had reached out and let her know that they cared. Even though Shannon's mom was a stranger, her concern was so genuine, it didn't matter that they had never met before.

It's something I will always remember about Shannon's mom . . . she really payed attention to people and she genuinely cared. In the years after college, I battled with my weight quite a bit (I put on the "freshman 15" each year I was in college and I had a tough time taking the weight back off). Whenever I saw Shannon's mom, she would always notice if I had lost weight, even if it was only a few pounds, and she would encourage me to keep taking care of myself. She always "saw you" and she saw you with her heart.

This week, I have been thinking about how grateful I am that there are people like Shannon's mom in this world. She had a positive impact on everyone she came in contact with. She didn't have to "try" to care, it came to her naturally and she made a difference in this world by just being who she was. She probably touched more people's lives than she ever realized and I feel grateful that my life was one of the lives that was touched by her presence.

Following the service, there was a celebration that almost everyone from the church attended. All my old friends from high school gathered together and I couldn't help but feel tremendous comfort and joy to be seeing them all again. We laughed about old times and got caught up on the present. It didn't seem to matter how many years had gone by, we were all just so happy to be together again. At one point, Cece said she felt a little guilty that we were enjoying ourselves so much on such a somber occasion, but I knew Shannon's mom would be happy that we were connecting again and having a good time. I knew she would be pleased that we were all "seeing" one another again.

The experience on Monday helped me reconnect with what is important in life. I was reminded that it's not about the quantity of time you spend with people, but the quality of your time together . . . that it doesn't take much effort to have a truly positive impact on the people you encounter, sometimes, it's as simple as being present and "seeing" them . . . that it is as important to see with your heart as it is to see with your eyes. It also reminded me that the people you don't know are just as important as the people you do know, and that no matter how much time passes, a true friend will always be that . . . a true friend.

On a final note . . . this weekend, I felt inspired to look through some old pictures. During my walk down memory lane, I came across an interesting photo from my childhood. From this picture, it seems as though my dad *did* try to teach me how to do a rosary, although I suppose I might have been too young for the lesson to stick, given that I was only fourteen months at the time.

Even though I was very sad that Shannon's mom had to leave this earth, I am grateful that I had the honor of knowing her, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to be reminded of the beautiful way she carried herself in this world. She is definitely serving as a role model in my life.

Honoring Butch

2010-11-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, my friend Sue called me because her dog Butch had suddenly become very ill. He wouldn't eat, he was throwing up constantly and she was really worried about him. To make matters worse, Butch had diabetes and needed daily insulin shots, but if she gave him insulin on an empty stomach, he would have a seizure, so she really needed to find a way to get him to eat, or he could die from not having insulin. She asked me if I would come and give him a Reiki treatment.

Within a couple of days of my first visit with Butch, Sue's veterinarian gave her the worst news a person could receive . . . Butch had cancer that had spread throughout his entire body (the cancer was in so many places, the ultra-sound technician stopped writing down the locations he was finding it in Butch's body) and there were no treatment options. Sue was left with the devastating truth that her sweet boy was going to die and understandably, it felt like the bottom was dropping out of her world.

She wanted to make him as comfortable as possible so we started doing reiki treatments for Butch every other day. Fortunately, the reiki seemed to increase his appetite. It was pretty much guaranteed that he would eat after he got reiki, (and if he ate, then Sue was able to give him insulin), so for that reason alone, we kept up with the frequent reiki treatments.

The thing that was really interesting was that Butch would go into such a deep state of relaxation during a reiki treatment, it was as if he was going into a trance. Sue and I had both watched the video that I posted on my blog, about the wolf who went into a deep trance during energy healing sessions and we were amazed that it seemed Butch was doing the same thing. I could feel from him how much he wanted the energy, how much he wanted to feel better. It was as if he was going into another dimension during the reiki treatments. Something kept telling me I was witnessing something that was beyond my comprehension.

The first couple of weeks were pretty rocky . . . even though Butch was eating more, and was more stable because of the insulin, other strange things were occurring, like the day his back end went out on him while they were out for a walk and some days he had trouble standing up for more than a minute or so. It seemed that every day, there was something different going on, so Sue and I checked in with each other every day to talk about how he was doing. I continued to go over there every other day to give him reiki treatments. We just wanted to give him as much love and support as we could.

After about two weeks, when Sue called to give me an update, she sounded more upbeat. She said "Butch is doing really well. I am interested to see what you think when you come over here tonight." I wasn't sure what to expect but I was completely blown away when I got to her house. Butch greeted me at the door, his tail wagging so much his whole back end wagged and he was sturdier on his feet than he had been in weeks. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was acting like a dog who had never been sick a day in his life.

They invited me to stay for dinner and Butch joined us in the dining room. He ate everything that was offered to him, and when Sue's boyfriend Steve got out some blue cheese for his salad, Butch barked at him to let him know he'd like some blue cheese too. :-) And a little while later, Butch barked as Steve again, as if to say, "I'd like some more please!" (Steve wasn't about to say no, so back to the refrigerator he went) :-) I couldn't explain what we were witnessing, I didn't know what it meant. I just kept telling Sue and Steve to consider it a gift and to enjoy every moment of it.

For the next couple weeks, enjoy it they did! Butch was back to his old self, doing all the things that made them smile, like standing up in the car and sticking his head out the window, barking at passing trucks, eating everything they offered him with gusto, (even regular old dog food), protecting the yard from squirrels, etc. He even resumed one of behaviors that Sue treasured most . . . when she gave him a special treat, he would go out in the backyard and bury it. It was something he had done all his life and the ring of dirt on Butch's nose when he came back in the house always made her smile. Butch hadn't buried anything in a while, but now, he was doing it again and it was bringing her tremendous joy. They went for walks and car rides, they hung out in the backyard and listened to jazz music, they embraced the opportunity they were being given to be together as a happy family.

Last Monday, the miracle we had been witnessing came to an end. Butch was lethargic that morning and he wasn't interested in eating. By Tuesday, his back end was getting weak again. I went that night to give him a reiki treatment and as usual, he went into the deep trance and pulled a ton of energy. Afterwards, he told me that he wasn't sure he was going to be able to pull through but he wanted to try. He said he'd know by the next day if he was going to be able to do it.

When Sue and I talked the next morning, she said he was worse. She stayed home from work because she could feel Butch telling her not to leave the house. I went there that afternoon and she was right, he was getting ready to make his transition. I helped Sue and Butch talk through everything. We explained to him that a vet could come and help him if he needed help and he was ok with that, if need be. I fought back tears as I shared all the things Butch wanted Sue to know . . . that he was sorry that he couldn't fight it anymore . . . how deeply he loved her, etc.

For a while, we just sat there on the floor with him as we talked about what a beautiful gift Butch had been in her life . . . the joy he brought her (she called him her Joy Bug), the way he cared for her and protected her. Several years ago, when Sue had her own battle with cancer, Butch was there by her side to help her through it. She was often bedridden for days after a chemo treatment and Butch would lay there with her, his head resting in the crook of her neck for hours at a time, making sure she knew he was there for her.

The whole time we were talking, Butch kept looking at Sue, with a look of love and adoration that could take your breath away. I could feel how he was savoring the time he had left with the woman he loved most in the world, his mom.

Then all of the sudden, he began to stretch and as he arched his back slightly, I could tell that he was about to go. Sue and I each had a hand on his heart, as she told him how much she loved him. His heartbeat grew faint and then stopped. Just as I was thinking, "Oh god, where is Steve" we heard the door open, and Steve walked into the house. Suddenly, Butch gasped for air and his heart started beating again. We called to Steve and he was able to join us on the floor and say good bye to Butch, before his heart slowed down again and then stopped. I had never witnessed anything like it before . . . clearly Butch couldn't go without seeing Steve one more time.

It was such a deeply moving experience for me. To be there, to witness the depth of his love for his mom and dad, to see how important it was to him that he see his dad one more time, to watch him make his transition . . . it was truly an honor to be there. And at the same time, my heart ached so deeply for Sue and Steve, because I knew what dark days lay ahead for them, as the waves of grief washed over them and they tried to adjust to life without their Joy Bug.

I wish I could explain what happened, during those days where Butch seemed 100% healthy and so full of life. In our conversation before he made his transition, Butch did ask his mom to focus on those fun days, instead of how he was on his last day, so maybe it was part of his plan . . . to make sure his mom and dad had joyful memories to hold on to. For me, I felt like I witnessed a miracle, even if it only lasted a short time, it was still a miracle to me.

My Roommates Are Gone

2010-11-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back, I wrote about the fact that I discovered I had a bee hive in the wall of my home, and that I had decided I was just going to enjoy my new roommates for a while. I wasn't in a hurry, because the hive was behind the shower wall in my guest bathroom and everyone I talked to said the shower surround would probably have to be torn out to get to the hive. That was a very unsettling and very expensive proposition. Remodeling the bathroom was not in my budget so I decided to just enjoy the bees . . . but my plan was thwarted a few weeks ago, when word got out in the neighborhood rat community that I had honey in my walls. The rats have one heck of a communication system because in a matter of days, it seems that every rat in San Jose was running through the walls of my house.

I spent hours on the phone, trying to find someone to patch up the rat-access points. I had a real sense of urgency now, not only because I did not want to have rats in my house, but I didn't want anything to happen to the bees, but everyone told me I needed to get the bees and honey out of there first. I turned my attention to finding a bee person and I was shocked by how many people wanted to kill the bees, claiming it was the only way to do it.

I was so thankful when I got in touch with Braulio Medina, from Smiling Bee. I knew immediately that he was the person I was going to work with. He is a 3rd generation bee keeper, who has a real love and respect for bees. Not only does he know everything there is to know about bees but he also really cares about his customers. He spent almost two hours here, trying to assess the size of the hive and figure out how he could remove it, without forcing me to re-model the shower in my guest bathroom. I got such a good feeling from him and I knew the bees and I would be in good hands.

He's been here all weekend, saving the bees and trying to remove all the honeycomb, while attempting to do all that work without making a hole in any of my walls. It's been a fascinating experience for me and I have learned a lot about bees in the last few days. Did you know that worker bees only live an average of 35-40 days . . . while a Queen can live up to five years? Braulio kind of reminds me of Cesar Milan (the Dog Whisperer). He has a calm confidence about him when he's working with the bees and the bees respond accordingly. He was kind enough to educate me about what he was doing along the way. At one point yesterday, he had me come out to see the honeycomb he had pulled out. When I asked him if that was all of it, he told me that it was only ONE QUARTER of the honeycomb. I was shocked. Those bees have been BUSY. He asked if I wanted to stay there while he found the Queen, so I could see what she looked like, but after about ten minutes of standing there, with a hundred bees flying all around us, I started to lose my "calm confidence" and decided that it would be ok if I didn't see the Queen in person, and I went back inside the house. :-)

Later, Braulio asked me if I would like to try some of the honey. I of course said, "Yes!" It was the best honey I have ever tasted. Sweet and pure. It made the store bought honey in my cupboard seem incredibly inferior. It blows me away that bees can create something so amazing, all on their own. He gave me several pieces of honeycomb and I took a picture. When he came back today to try to reach an area he couldn't access yesterday, he found even more honeycomb back there, so now it's looking like the big section of honeycomb I saw and photographed yesterday was only ONE-FIFTH of what was up there in my wall. He was so sweet, he gave me even more honeycomb today.

While it was fun having the bees around, I know they are better off where Braulio has relocated them. (They will eventually get to go to his almond farm.) I joked around with him yesterday, asking if he would ensure they got the best home, with the best accommodations. He assured me they would. :-)

One final interesting tidbit . . . when I asked him how long it would take for the bees to make that much honey, he said "About a year." It was a year ago that Lucky passed away and interestingly enough, Lucky loved eating bees. She ate hundred of them in the years we were together, so I find it oddly poetic that bees set up house in my wall about the same time she left me. I don't know if the bees just didn't want me to be lonely, or if they were getting even with me for letting her eat so many bees over the years. Not that I had much choice, she could find and eat a bee before I even noticed one was around. She was quick!

What's important to me though, is that the bees have been saved and thanks to Braulio's determination and care, I don't have any major wall repairs to contend with. Now if I can just make sure all the neighborhood rats know the "restaurant in my wall" has been closed, I'll be in good shape!

The Two Sides of Animals

2010-11-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

Many animal communicators talk about the different sides of an animal they communicate with and they often refer to those two sides as the "personality" and the "soul." I tend to think of it more as communicating with the young part of an animal vs. their older/wiser self. Regardless, you don't have to be an animal communicator to experience these two parts of your animal. Your animal may be operating from their older/wiser self when they are trying to help you learn something they have come into your life to teach you, and they may be operating from their younger self when they act goofy, attack the toilet paper roll in the bathroom or steal food off the counter.

I had an experience recently where I got to witness the young side of an animal, and it had me laughing for days. I had gone to see Leo after he had major knee surgery, hoping the reiki would help speed up the healing process. Leo is a very happy, very active dog, who was not thrilled that his movement needed to be limited for so many weeks, so while doing reiki on his leg, his mom and I were talking about her challenge of keeping him inactive, when the last thing Leo wanted to do was sit still.

She and I were brainstorming ways she could mentally stimulate him, while still keeping him relatively quiet. I suggested taking him for car rides, so he could at least have an outing and see/smell things as they drove around. His mom told me that car rides weren't an option because Leo got too wound up and excited when they were getting into the car and that he would insist on excitedly jumping in, even when she was trying to get him to slowly, calmly get into the car. She thought it was too big of a risk.

Not one to be deterred, I began talking to Leo about it, explaining to him that if he could be more calm when they got into the car, his mom might be more willing to take him out for rides, when all of the sudden he got really fidgety. He had been laying there, very calmly receiving reiki but as soon as I started asking him if he could share in the responsibility of ensuring he didn't overdo it and injure his healing leg, he began licking his paws, trying to lick the area where his stitches were, turning his head away repeatedly, refusing to look at me. His mom and I were humored by his reaction and when we changed the subject, he became very calm again and layed down to enjoy his reiki treatment.

A few minutes later, I tried talking about it again and immediately, Leo started the same behavior . . . fidgeting, licking, refusing to look at me. Clearly, he did not want to hear what I was saying. What I was picking up from him was the equivalent of a child putting their hands over their ears and saying, "I can't hear you! I can't hear you!"

Since Leo didn't want to talk about the car rides, his mom and I went back to talking about other ways she could give him mental stimulation during these weeks of forced rest. I asked her if she would consider reading to him, as I have seen the positive effects of reading to animals before. She said she was opened to giving it a try.

The next week, I went back to see Leo again and his mom informed me that Leo did not enjoy being read to. I was surprised so I asked her what she read to him and she replied, "Muffin Mouse's New House." I could immediately sense what Leo was feeling . . . the book was WAY too juvenile for him. I teased his mom about it and explained to her that Leo would be more interested in a book that was a little deeper, a little more mature. (I felt I was communicating with his older/wiser self at this point). We had a really good laugh about "Muffin Mouse's New House" and she told him she'd find a better book to read to him.

The next week, I got an email from Leo's mom, telling me that she had read some of Wayne Dyer's "The Power Of Intention," to Leo and that he had a much better reaction. She said that he seemed very interested the whole time she was reading and interestingly enough, the chapter was about physical healing. Clearly, Leo felt he could get more out of "The Power of Intention" than he could out of "Muffin Mouse's New House."

That same week, they had to go to the vet to get his stitches out. Leo's mom reported that for the first time, Leo was a perfect angel getting in and out of the car, moving as slowly and as carefully as she had asked him too. Even though Leo didn't want to hear what we were saying about the car all those weeks earlier, he obviously had listened. Now his mom is much more comfortable taking him in the car, since he has shown he can share in the responsibility of ensuring he doesn't damage his leg before it fully heals.

So, keep in mind that your animals have these two sides as well . . . their "wise self" and their "young self" . . . and regardless of which side they are operating from, they are always trying to communicate something to you.

Earth Fire Institute

2010-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

I was recently introduced to an amazing organization called The Earth Fire Institute (http://earthfireinstitute.org/) by one of my clients. They are a wildlife sanctuary in Idaho and they provide a home for animals who are no longer capable of living in the wild. Everything about this organization resonates with me. They are living out one of my dreams . . . and as a way of living vicariously through their experiences, I have spent hours delving into all the content on their website.

There is a section where you can read stories about all the animals who live there. (Go to the "Meet the Animals" tab). The stories will make you smile, make you cry and touch your heart.

The sanctuary is also a home to many wolves, bears, cougars, buffalo, etc. If you have an interest in learning more about wild animals and how their lives can be positively impacted when they are treated with kindness and respect, you will thoroughly enjoy every page of this website.

I poured over the stories about the wolves, as I have always had a special fondness for wolves, and I was so moved by the love, respect and tender care they are receiving at Earth Fire, it made me want to pack a suitcase and fly up there.

There is a video on the site that touched me very deeply. It shows one of the wolves, Apricot, who has a neurological disorder, allow someone to do energy healing treatments on her. Prior to trying energy healing, the only other option they were given for treatment was to give Apricot dangerous drugs to relieve her pain. To see how receptive this wolf was to energy healing, to see how much she allowed herself to trust the healer and surrender to the process was awe inspiring.

http://earthfireinstitute.org/2010/04/energy-healing-wolf/

I hope that you will take an opportunity to check out their website and learn more about the amazing work these folks are doing up there. It will give you a new perspective how incredibly wise and magical wild animals really are and what kind of relationship is possible when we allow ourselves to embrace the truth about the depth of animals ability to think and feel.

The joy of vacuuming

2010-10-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

October 15th was the one year anniversary of Lucky's passing, so last weekend, I decided to cajole myself into doing a couple things I hadn't been able to do in the past year . . . clean out her toy basket and vacuum the stairs.

I wasn't as successful as I hoped I'd be in the first activity. I dumped all her toys on the floor, figuring I would throw out all the ones that were worn out or torn up but I wasn't finding much I was willing to part with. I didn't cry or feel sad and it wasn't that I couldn't part with the toys because of some deep emotional attachment to them. I had this odd calmness come over me as I went through the exercise. I kept getting a feeling there was a good chance Lucky would come back to me some day and I was sure she'd enjoy being reunited with her most favorite toys. If you don't believe in reincarnation, you might think that I am deep in denial, but since I do believe animals come back to spend another lifetime with their previous guardians, it didn't feel out of the realm of possibilities. As I went through her toy basket, I kept getting a strong "knowing" that she would be back.

After going through all of her toys, only about 10-12 of them ended up in the garbage. The remaining toys (over 50 or more) ended up back in the basket. So, one task down (even if I barely got a "C" for my effort) and it was onto the next . . . vacuuming the stairs.

You may be thinking it's rather strange that I haven't been able to vacuum the stairs since Lucky passed away, but it's because it was Lucky's most favorite house cleaning chore and never in my life had I seen a dog so filled with glee at the sight of a hand-held vacuum cleaner. The second I pulled the hand-vac out of the hall closet, Lucky would grab a tennis ball and immediately run to the top of the stairs and wait for the "Stair game" to begin. Even when I hadn't planned on vacuuming the stairs, (i.e. when I had pulled out the hand-vac to clean some cobwebs or something else), I would end up vacuuming the stairs because her joy was so contagious and I couldn't bring myself to tell her, "No, we're not going to vacuum the stairs today." (Especially since she would run to the top of the stairs as soon as I pulled out the hand-vac and she wouldn't budge from that spot until the "game" began).

The game consisted of me starting at the bottom of the stairs and her laying at the top of the stairs. She would spit the tennis ball out of her mouth, watching it bounce down the steps until it got to me. It was then up to me to grab the tennnis ball (while still vacuuming the step) and throw it back up to her. She would catch the ball and then promptly spit the ball out of her mouth again, watching it bounce down the steps until it reached me. The game continued until the gap between us was only one step.

It sounds like a easy and maybe even boring game, but there were all sorts of challenges that made the game even more fun, like if I missed the ball, or lost my balance while trying to grab the ball, or when I threw the ball up to her and it bounced off her teeth and came flying back towards me, or if it was just a bad throw that ricocheted off the wall instead of landing in her mouth. All these "challenges" added joy to the game for Lucky and her eyes would sparkle with delight. There are only thirteen steps to the second floor, but sometimes the "Stair game" would last a half an hour or longer. I'm pretty sure I had the cleanest stairs in the world in all the years Lucky was with me.

Even in the last part of Lucky's life, when her back end was weak and she couldn't go up the stairs anymore, we would still play the "Stair game." I remember one day towards the end of her life, I wanted to vacuum the dog hair off the stairs before company arrived and I was just going to do it quickly, by myself . . . but the look on her face when I pulled out the hand-vac told me that it was no time to start a new tradition. I helped her to the top of the stairs and handed her a tennis ball, then went to the bottom of the stairs to begin vacuuming. The twinkle in her eyes and the sheer joy on her face confirmed for me that the game was still one of her most favorite things, and even though she needed my help at the start and the end of the game, it didn't take away from the experience. She happily dropped the ball, watched it bounce down the steps towards me and the game was on!!

So, last weekend when I set out to finally vacuum the stairs, I was afraid it would be too hard to do it without her, which is why my stairs have gone un-vacuumed all year. Much to my delight, I actually enjoyed it. I had a moment of sadness when I first started, but mostly it just made me smile, as I thought about the hundreds of times Lucky convinced me we needed to "clean house" and how she managed to help me find enjoyment in a task that I used to dread.

I'm happy to say I think I am going to be able to vacuum the stairs now without any trouble, and even though a lot of people may think I am a little crazy, I'll be hanging onto Lucky's toys for a while longer, so if she comes back, she'll be able to play with them again.

New Beginnings

2010-10-17T18:14:00.001-07:00

This week, I was contacted by one of my former clients, who I hadn't seen much of since her precious Natalie passed away last December. She and her husband decided it was time for them to get another dog, so a few weeks ago, they adopted a dog from a rescue organization. Their new dog, Shasta, was exhibiting a lot of anxiety and she had already earned the nickname "Velcro" because of the way she "attached herself" to them. She asked me if I could come and do a session with them.

She told me that Shasta looked like a cross between Lucky and Natalie and that it warmed her heart that Shasta looked like a combination of our two girls. Natalie was an aussie, so I was anxious to see what an ausie/shepherd would look like. When I got to their house yesterday, I understood what she was talking about. Shasta is definitely an aussie . . . in body style and fur, her tail . . . . she was all aussie . . . but she was black and tan in coloring, just like a shepherd and she had shepherd ears that stood up, instead of a normal aussie ear that flops down. She grabbed my heart immediately, not just because of how much she looked like Natalie and Lucky, but because she had the most incredibly soulful eyes.

My clients were concerned about her anxiety and having never had a rescue dog before, they were also worried about how to correct the unwanted behaviors she was exhibiting, as the last thing they wanted to do was cause anymore stress for a dog who had been through so much in her first 3-4 years.

Fortunately, Shasta was incredibly receptive to the energy and she immediately laid down and started to soak it up, while I talked with her mom and dad about their concerns and questions. She even fell asleep for a while, which shocked her parents, as they hadn't seen her that relaxed since she came to live with them two weeks ago.

As is very common with rescue dogs, they have a fear of being given up, especially if they have changed homes more than once and they can experience a lot of anxiety. Shasta spent the first few years of her life living with a woman who worked all the time and she spent almost every day alone in the backyard. Eventually, she figured out how to get out of the yard and would wait on the porch for her guardian to come home and while it didn't concern her guardian, it concerned the postal worker who came to the house every day. Lets just say, Shasta didn't make him feel welcome, and her guardian was forced to give her up. She went to the shelter, then to a rescue group, was adopted out, and then returned, then back in a foster home. She was experiencing a lot of fear that she wouldn't get to stay in this new home very long either, which was why she was being "velcro girl." We talked to her about how she was never going to have to change homes again, that this was her forever home. I could feel that a lot of her anxiety was tied to this fear, so I knew it was important to assure her that she wasn't going to have to change homes again.

I realized that Shasta didn't have as advanced of a vocabulary as most dogs her age, probably because she spent so much time alone in her first three years. (Since animals learn our language from being around us, just like babies, they need to be exposed to hearing people talk if they are going to learn the language). I talked to her guardians about keeping the communication simple for a while, until she has a chance to expand her vocabulary. It made sense to them, as they knew she was really smart and had shown she could learn some things quickly, but sometimes, she didn't seem to understand them at all. They realized that when she didn't understand them, they were probably using too many words and talking too fast.

We discussed the delicate balance of correcting behavior in an animal that is already fearful. It is something that is very important to be aware of when you have adopted a rescue animal. If you come on too strong, you can make the animals behavior worse, but if you are too soft, you can end up with a situation that is equally out of control. Between my experience with Lucky, as well as the years I volunteered for the German Shepherd Rescue organization, I learned just how important it is to find that balance.

One of the key ingredients to me is redirection. If an animal is doing something you don't want them to do (i.e. chewing on one of your shoes), it is not helpful to just yell at the dog for chewing the shoe, nor is it helpful to just ignore your now destroyed loafer. You need to show them what they CAN chew on. Sure, tell them "no" as you take the shoe away, but then you need to help them understand what IS acceptable to chew on. Animals learn incredibly fast when you use redirection as a method of training.

Anyway, back to Shasta. She soaked up a ton of energy and her parents said she looked like a different dog by the end of the treatment. She was so calm and relaxed. They all walked me to the gate together and when her dad opened the gate, he asked her to sit. She sat immediately but then a couple seconds later, she got up and started exploring the front yard. Her dad called her back and she immediately responded. He asked her to sit and she did. However, two seconds later, she was up exploring the front yard again.

I smiled at her dad and said, "Do you mind a little feedback?" and he said, "Absolutely, I'm open" so I pointed out that he wasn't telling her how LONG she had to sit, which was why she came to him and sat each time, but only for a second or two. We all had a good laugh and her dad said he'd start working on a release command so that she could learn that she needed to sit until he said it was OK to go. He tried it before I walked away and Shasta sat and stayed while I walked down the driveway and to my car. (Talk about a quick learner!)

As I drove away from their house, I knew everything was going to be OK. I smiled as I thought about what a beautiful new beginning it was for all of them. For my clients who were welcoming a new family member into their home and hearts and for Shasta, who was going to learn that she was now truly "home." I have a feeling they are all going to live happily ever after.

Am I ready for another dog?

2010-10-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, during the heat wave, a friend of mine called and asked if I would babysit her dog for a few hours that evening. It was too hot for him to be in the car and she didn't have enough time to drive him back home. I, of course, said, "Yes!" It has been a while since I had a dog to hang out with in the house, and the fact that he was a german shepherd made the opportunity that much sweeter.

Bear is a rescue, whom my friend has only had for about 6 weeks, so she's still getting to know him. One thing she does know is that, in spite of all he had been through before he came to live with her, he has bonded with her and subsequently, has a little trouble being away from her. I was sure he would be fine in my capable hands . . . that is until she left, and then I started to wonder.

The second she pulled away from my house, he started to get really anxious. He paced around the front door, then ran into the backyard to see if there was a way out, then came back inside the house and whined and paced at the front door some more. I tried coaxing him away from the door, but he wouldn't budge.

This is one of those times where it's tough being an empathic person, because I literally felt every ounce of his anxiety in my own body. I tried to talk to him and assure him that his mom would be back in a few hours, I tried distracting him with treats, I tried everything I could think of and still, the anxiety hadn't lessened.

I decided that maybe a walk would be helpful, so he (and I) could work some of the anxiety out of our bodies. I put the leash on him and we had a nice walk around the neighborhood. When we got back to the house, I offered him some water (and I decided it was a good thing that I hadn't been able to part with Lucky's bowls yet). He drank some water and seemed OK for a minute, but then went back to the front door. He laid down in the entry way and pressed his nose against the door. He was a little calmer, which was a good thing, but he still was feeling anxiety about his mom's return.

After a little while, I decided maybe another walk was in order because I didn't think it would be good for him to spend the rest of the evening with his nose pressed against the door. He happily got up, and let me put the leash on him and he seemed pleased to be out walking again. We cruised around the neighborhood for a while and when I could feel an improvement in his anxiety level, we headed back to my house.

This time, after offering him some water, I was able to get him to lay down on the floor in the family room. I considered that a major accomplishment. :-) I put my hands on him and started to give him some Reiki, to see if the energy could help calm him further. Within a few minutes, I was flooded with emotion, as he showed me what had happened to him in his previous 6 years. When I say he "showed me" - it's not like they were clear pictures and specific instances. It's as if you are watching a movie at such a high speed that you can't actually see any of the images . . . but what I could feel were his emotions . . . the fear, the sadness, the loneliness, the despair. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I apologized to him for what he had been through and told him how sorry I was that he hadn't been treated the way he should have been. I told him that I knew his new mom really well and that I was certain he would never experience anything but love and kindness in her care.

When his mom returned to pick him up, he was over the moon. He kissed her and kissed her and laid at her feet and rolled over on his back and made all sorts of sweet sounds. He clearly knew she was a very special person and that he was very lucky to have found her. It was such a precious thing to witness.

As for me, I was really glad I got a chance to have a dog in the house, even if it was just for a short while. I loved spending time with him, it warmed my heart to have a german shepherd in the house again, however, I was clear that it wasn't time for me to have a dog myself. People keep asking me when I am going to get another dog and I keep saying I don't know. What I do know is that it just isn't time yet.

This week, as I approach the anniversary of Lucky's passing, I can feel little waves of grief cropping up, like this morning, when I woke up and remembered what the last Sunday of our life together was like. That was the morning that her arms gave out and I could sense that the end was near. As I laid there in bed, I remembered how I cancelled my appointments that day because I thought she was going to make her transition that evening. I remembered camping out on the floor with her, telling her all the things I wanted her to know before she left and how at peace we both were, even though I couldn't stop crying.

I thought about how she hung on for 4 more days after that, making sure I had learned all the lessons she had come to teach me. Regardless of whatever sadness may be creeping in this week, I know that what I feel most strongly is gratitude. Gratitude for having had the chance to spend 14 years of my life with my precious girl.

Someday, I know I'll be ready to have another dog, but for now, I am content to relish in the memories of the dog I had . . . the dog who loved me, valued me, inspired me and protected me more than anyone else ever had . . . the dog who changed my life in ways I didn't realized my life needed to be changed. This week, I will be cherishing the memories of our final days together and remembering all the things I learned during our 14 years together.

An Opossum encounter

2010-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I was on a really long call with my insurance company. To make the frustrating call more tolerable, I decided to sit in the backyard, and get a little sun while we were trying to sort out the current paperwork fiasco that I have been dealing with.

While I was sitting there, I heard a strange noise above my head on the top of the fence and when I looked up I saw an opossum struggling to walk along the fence. I had a feeling he may fall off the fence and land on me, so I stood up to get out of the way. When I looked up at him, I saw that this poor little guy was in really bad shape. His head was all bloody and he was barely able to walk, he was so shaky. It broke my heart to see the condition he was in and I wanted nothing more than to help him.

If I hadn't been trying for months to resolve this insurance problem, I would have hung up the phone and just focused on the opossum, but I knew I needed to stay on the phone, since I was finally talking to someone who might be able to help me. I tried whispering to him, telling him not to be afraid, that I wouldn't hurt him, etc. but I couldn't stop him from leaving. He slowly turned around, almost falling off the fence and made his way back from the direction he came.

The rest of the call, I couldn't stop thinking about him. When I finally got off the phone, I went outside and looked for him. I checked all the bushes surrounding the back side of my house, but he was nowhere to be seen. I went back inside, feeling as though I had somehow let him down. For the rest of the afternoon and evening, I thought about him. I kept getting the image of his little face in my head, with the blood all over his forehead, and it was making me feel really sad.

That night when I got into bed, he was still on my mind. I decided to try to send him some Reiki. At first, I was nervous about it, not knowing if I would even be able to connect with him to send him energy. I was also worried that maybe he had already passed away and I wasn't sure I wanted to know that. I decided to give it a try anyway because I decided it couldn't hurt to give it a shot. As soon as I started sending energy to him, my hands started to throb. I don't know if I have ever sent Reiki to someone (human or animal) where my felt the energy that intensely. He was pulling energy so hard, I was sure that he was in real need of help.

I sent him Reiki for about 45 minutes and then I guess I fell asleep. When I was woken up by the garbage trucks at the shopping center behind me at 6:30am, I couldn't fall back asleep so I decided to try and send him some more energy. Much to my delight, I was able to connect with him again and happy when he pulled more energy, although not nearly as intensely as the night before. At least it let me know he was still alive, that he had made it through the night and that made me feel a lot better.

I am not sure how much he could understand of what I said to him, because I don't have a lot of experience communicating with wild animals, but I kept talking to him as if he understood. I told him I really hoped he was ok and that he could heal from whatever had happened to him. I told him that I would love to see him again and asked if he would come by sometime and let me see that he was alright.

I have no idea if I will ever see him again. I really hope I do because it would be wonderful to see him in better shape than the last time I saw him and have a more pleasant image to hold in my brain. Even if I don't see him again, I feel good knowing that I was able to do something. It is also nice to get some additional confirmation that all beings (human or animal) are receptive to energy. It seems as though it is a universal language that is understood by all souls.

My new roommates

2010-09-26T17:43:00.001-07:00

Sometime this summer, I went upstairs to clean the guest bathroom, because I was having some company that night. While I was up there, I kept hearing this strange sound. It sounded kind of like water sprinklers. I peeked out the window to make sure the sprinklers weren't actually on and when I confirmed they weren't, I checked all the water sources in the bathroom, to make sure there weren't any leaks. I came up empty and promptly forgot about it.

About three weeks later, I was having company again, so I went back up to the guest bath to clean it. As soon as I got in there, I heard that strange sound again. It still sounded like sprinklers were on and I wondered if maybe I had a water leak in the wall somewhere. I got on the computer to check my recent water bills, to see if there had been any increase and there wasn't. I was stumped so I made a mental note to ask one of my friends to listen and see if they could identify the sound.

Given that I have a lot going on in my life, I once again forgot about the sound. That was, until a few weeks ago, when I was out on the side of the house doing some yard work. I happened to look up and saw a ton of bees flying around. I watched them a little more closely and realized they were flying in and out of the wall of my house, up on the second story. It took me a minute or two to put it all together. They were flying into the part of the house that is right where my guest bathroom is. Finally, the noise I had been hearing up there made sense. It wasn't sprinklers I was hearing, it was BEES! And now I knew why I had been finding so many bees in the house this summer. They were obviously trying to make their way to the hive and didn't realize the "approved access point" was outside, not inside my house.

I got on the internet and started researching bee hives in walls. I knew I needed to find someone who could come and retrieve the bees and as I was learning from my research, I was also going to need to find someone to repair the large hole in the wall that they were going to need to make to get the honeycomb out. I found a local guy who called himself the "Bee Guy" and gave him a call. He informed me that he would kill the bees and then he had a guy who could cut open the wall, remove the honeycomb and then repair the wall. That was not going to be an option for me. There was no way I was going to let someone kill the bees, especially when the bee population is as compromised as it is right now.

I kept searching, kept reading, kept making calls and sending emails. I finally found a guy, who also called himself a "Bee guy," who assured me the bees could be removed safely. He sounded more like a real Bee Guy to me. We emailed back and forth a few times, as I attempted to gather as much information as I could. Apparently, if I wait until mid-winter, it will be cheaper to remove the bees, because most of them will have moved on by then, but if I wait that long, the honeycomb could get even larger, which means the hole they'd need to make in my wall will be even larger and it will probably cost more to repair the wall afterwards. I couldn't get a definitive answer about costs, or how large the hole would need to be and on some level, I was starting to become mentally paralyzed from all the information I was collecting. I let the whole issue slide to the bottom of my to-do list, as other things took precedent.

The other morning, I got up and found a bee, barely alive, laying on the rug by the back door. I felt so bad that I hadn't noticed him in the house before I went to bed and I wanted to try to help him. I scooped him up with a piece of paper and brought him into the backyard. He was barely moving and it made me sad. I decided to try and give him Reiki. I had never given Reiki to a bee before, but I figured it was worth a try. I sat down on the ground, cupped my hands over him and started to send him Reiki. I felt a little silly, sitting there on the ground in my PJ's, trying to heal the bee, but at the same time, it just felt like the right thing to do. After about 5 minutes, he started to move around a little bit and I was excited. I decided to go back inside and make my coffee and resume my morning routine.

After I drank some coffee and looked at the paper, I went in the backyard to check on my bee friend again. He hadn't moved from where he was, and he looked like maybe he was going to make it after all. Not one to be deterred, I sat down on the ground, cupped my hands over him again and sent him some more Reiki. After about 5 minutes, he started to move around again, this time, with much more enthusiasm. I was delighted. I got a piece of paper, gently scooped him up and placed him on one of the flowers in my yard. He seemed to like that and became even more animated. I knew my little friend was going to be ok.

Smiling, I went back into the house, feeling happy to know that Reiki works on bees too, and feeling less concerned about the bee hive in my wall. I still don't know what I am going to do. I know I'll eventually need to get a real Bee Guy to come and save the remaining bees, and deal with the honeycomb and wall repair, but for the time being, I have decided to just think of the bees as my new roommates.

Henry

2010-09-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

One of my precious animal clients is getting ready to make his transition, and as usual, it brings up a mixture of emotions . . . sadness that he is leaving, empathy for his family and amazement at the beauty and wisdom of animals, especially at this stage of their process.

Henry is a precious boy, a dalmatian who is reaching the end of his beautiful life. I have had the honor of working with him over the last year, been touched to witness his depth of spirit and his love for his family, especially his mom.

Henry has a little human brother, and one of the things that always touched me was how Henry liked to do everything his brother did. Many of Henry's request had to do with sharing experiences with him, such as wanting to join them when they read stories at bedtime or having bites of whatever food his mom was feeding his brother. This summer when they were trying to decide on where they would go for some day trips, Henry told me that he wanted to witness some of his little brother's "firsts" . . . to be there to witness the first time his brother went to certain places or saw certain things. He was so precious, I would often tear up when I would pass along his messages, because they touched my heart so much.

I have been seeing more of Henry lately, as he gets ready to make his transition, both from a healing standing point, giving him reiki treatments to ensure he is comfortable, and as a communicator, helping to ensure the lines of communication are opened between he and his mom. He expressed a desire to go on his own, when he was ready (because he felt he still had some things to do here) and his mom was committed to honoring that.

In the last month or so, she was feeling concerned about an upcoming week long business trip that she had to take this month. We talked to Henry about it a lot. At first, he thought he would probably pass before she left for her trip, but as it got closer to her departure date, he felt that he needed to stay until she returned, because he hadn't finished what he had come here to do. We agreed that I would go see Henry while she was gone, to give him a reiki treatment and keep the lines of communication opened.

When I arrived at their house this past week, I sat down on the floor next to Henry and put my hands on him. I was initially shocked to feel how cold his body was, but I have learned over the years that when the body is starting to shut down, the body temperature goes down and it is usually a sign that an animal is getting close to making their transition.

I talked to Henry about that and asked him if he was OK with going soon, and he told me that he really wanted to stay a little longer, he really wanted to see his mom again. I talked to him about how many more days that would be (how many more sunsets and how many more sunrises until she returned) and he told me he wanted to try to make it until then. At that point, I could feel him begin to soak up the energy, the energy was literally pumping through my hands. He was determined to pull as much energy as he could, to make it until the weekend.

At one point, Henry told me that he needed me to pass along a message for his mom, just in case he didn't make it until she returned. I sat there, tears streaming down my face, as he told me of the love and respect that he has for his mom, how he would always be watching over her, always making sure she was ok. It is hard to describe sometimes, the deep soul-touching communication I am privileged to receive and pass on, the way it resonates in my body as "truth" and the way it touches me so deeply. It is impossible not to feel overwhelmed with emotion and to be in awe of the depth these spiritual creatures have. I promised him that I would pass his message along, even though I hoped he would be able to deliver it himself when his mom returned.

I was pleased to find that Henry's body temperature had gone back up by the end of the treatment. I knew there was a good chance he would still be here on the weekend when his mom returned. It's hard to explain how moved I was by his love, devotion and determination. As promised, I sent an email to his mom when I got back home. She called me that night from Boston to tell me she received my email, and to also tell me that she wrote Henry a love letter after reading my email. The love between them is so beautiful, so deep, so pure . . .

Henry's mom arrived home on Saturday, and Henry was able to achieve his goal of still being here when she returned. They have had a sweet weekend, getting the opportunity to be together, to share their love and devotion to one another, as they get ready for this next step in their journey together. His mom told me how they have all come together as a family, to share their love with Henry, each spending tender moments with their special boy. I know Henry's heart is full and that he will feel at peace when he makes his transition.

For me, I feel blessed to have known this sweet boy and his wonderful family, grateful that I was able to witness the depth of their love for one another and to see once again, how profound and spiritual our relationships with animals can be. In honor of Henry's mom, I offer some lyrics from a subdudes song called Carved in Stone, as they seem fitting at this time. I can imagine them being the perfect message to Henry.

Hold on tight to the things you always taught us
Speak out loud about faith, hope, love and trust
Carry on and have yourself a lovely ride
Think of me when you finally reach the other side

Lula is back home!!!

2010-09-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

This week, I am finally able to say what I have been wanting to say for weeks . . . Lula is back home with her family again!!! This is the sweet little dog who was stolen from her home during a burglary in the beginning of August, that I wrote about in a previous blog. Her parents never gave up hope and never stopped looking for her and fortunately, their perseverance paid off!

Earlier this week, they got a call from someone who saw one of the thousands of fliers they posted all over the Bay Area . . . this person recognized her, as the dog she purchased at the San Jose Flea market several weeks ago, not knowing she was a stolen dog who already had a home. Fortunately, this person had a conscience and knew it was best to return Lula to her real family.

Aside from some pretty matted fur and some weight gain, Lula was in good shape upon her return and her grateful family has been making up for lost time this week, showering her with all the love they weren't able to give her for all those weeks she was gone.

If you want to see the story done about Lula's reunion with her family, check out the following link to Channel 5's coverage:

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=68772@kpix.dayport.com

I am just so happy that Lula is back home with her family again. It was a very long, frustrating, heart wrenching ordeal for them all and one that I would never wish on anyone. I hope the police find the people who burglarized their house (and countless other homes in their neighborhood) and stole their precious dog and I hope they are brought to justice.

In the meantime, I know I will sleep well, knowing Lula is finally back home where she belongs.

Trusting the Energy

2010-09-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

I have always been an analytical person by nature, someone who likes to understand why things happen. I'm also the kind of person who has always found comfort in knowing that A + B = C, and that if you do X, the result will be Y. I like for things to be predictable and for things to make sense.

So when I first started exploring Reiki, it was a challenge for me to wrap my mind around all that I didn't know or understand about healing energy. I had trouble with the fact that couldn't always predict results and that you could never make any promises about what the energy would do.

Since the energy can heal on any level (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual), it may go to an area you didn't realize you needed help in. Since the energy will heal whatever most needs to be healed, you could give yourself reiki on your knee because it hurt, but if your kidneys needed more support at that moment, the energy might go there instead, even if you don't realize there was anything wrong with your kidneys. You could feel discouraged that your knee still hurt, not realizing that the energy went to where your body needed it the most at that moment.

In order to become a reiki practitioner, I was forced to really explore and embrace the ideas of faith and trust. I had to learn to trust the energy, I had to trust that it would do what it was meant to do. I can certainly set an intention for the energy, yet I have learned that I need to also hold the belief that the energy will do what is in the highest good. It's been a process, over all these years, to really let go and be in trust . . . to have faith that the energy is doing what that person or animal needs it to do and to let go of my need to predict the outcome.

Over the years, I have allowed myself to be opened to any possibility, to suspend any expectations and just see what happens . . . and I have been fortunate enough to witness the amazing and unexplainable results that can occur.

Last winter, I had a client whose cat was having a lot of health issues, so she took him to the vet. They discovered that his heart was enlarged and the vet gave the client a long list of possible causes . . . none of them good. She wanted to give energy healing a try, so she arranged for her cat to have a series of reiki treatments before deciding on any course of action.

Her cat was very receptive to the energy and I was hopeful that it would help, but I also knew there were no guarantees. Much to my clients and my delight, when she took him back to the vet a few months later, they did an ultrasound and found that his heart had returned to it's normal size.

This summer, another one of my clients took her dog in to have a couple fatty tumors removed. She expected it to be a fairly routine operation but her vet discovered other issues when they took xrays. They saw a large mass down by his bladder, that they assumed might be a cyst. They said that since it was so large and so close to other organs, it would be too dangerous to operate so they suggested she start him on chemo and radiation right away.

She wasn't ready to go that route, so we decided to give Reiki a try and see what it could do. He had weekly treatments for 5-6 weeks and then last week she took him back in to have more xrays done. We were both feeling nervous and a little anxious before the appointment, wondering what the results were going to be. We both knew there was a possibility that the mass was going to be unchanged, and yet, we both held onto the hope that the energy was able to make a difference. When they looked at the new xrays, the cyst was so small, it was barely visible. My client and I were beyond excited!

There is still a small part of me that wishes I could predict what was going to happen each time someone comes to me fore a Reiki treatment, because it is still in my nature to be comforted when A + B = C and X always results in Y.

Yet, I also love the fact that I don't have to know it all . . . that there are forces out there that I may not ever be able to fully comprehend, but can still trust. I can just have faith that the energy will do what it is meant to do, that it will always do what is in the highest good.

And still, I relish in the moments where there is some 'proof' that the energy did something miraculous!

Another visit from the other side

2010-08-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

I had hoped my next blog entry would be an update on Lula's joyous and safe return to her family. Unfortunately, it has not happened yet. Please keep Lula and her family in your thoughts and sent out a wish or a prayer that they are reunited soon!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of getting another 'sign' that Lucky is still with me. The subdudes were back in town, doing a show north of Marin in a little place called Rancho Nicasio. Lucky and I had been there before to see the subdudes and we had a wonderful time. I was looking forward to going back there again.

I called my brother to see if he wanted to go with me and he was game. I was really excited about seeing my favorite band again, but it was mixed with a little sadness that the last time I saw them in concert was the day after Lucky passed away, last October, and it made me really miss her.

The day of the concert, Lucky was on my mind a lot. I couldn't stop wishing she was going to the show with me, and I so clearly remembered the mental/emotional space I was in the last time I saw the subdudes, that it made my heart ache a little bit. I felt a little low energy as I drove up to San Francisco to pick up my brother. I tried to distract myself by listened to the subdudes music, really loud in the car and it seemed to work, as I was in a pretty good mood by the time I got to my brother's place.

We decided my brother would drive my car from the city up to the venue, so once we loaded up the car, I handed him the keys and jumped in the passenger seat. We were driving away from his place when I looked down at my cell phone in the center console and there, resting on top of my cell phone was a single Lucky hair.

I know the hair wasn't there before, because I had used my phone to call my brother a few minutes earlier when I was exciting the freeway. Besides that, my car is virtually free of all dog hair, as a result of the amount of times it has been in the shop since my car accident last April. (The guys at the dealer are kind enough to wash my car and vacuum it each time it is in for service, and with the number of times it has been back in the shop, I'm pretty sure my car has been vacuumed more times in the last 5 months than it was in the previous 5 years).

It made me smile in that deep, all the way from your toes to the top of your head, sort of way and I pointed it out to my brother. I said, "Look! Lucky is letting us know she's here and going to the subdudes show with us." My brother and I don't share the same spiritual beliefs, so he smiled at me in one of those "Isn't that cute, how my sister imagines things to make herself feel better" sort of ways. I didn't mind though. I knew Lucky was letting me know that she WAS there and it made me even more excited to go to the show (even if my brother thought I was a little crazy.)

We had a fabulous time at the show. It was so good to see the guys again, and we lucked out with some fabulous weather, which was perfect for an afternoon outdoor venue. The band played so many of my favorite songs, I didn't stop dancing or smiling the whole time they were playing. My heart felt full every time I thought about Lucky giving me a sign of her presence.

I haven't seen a Lucky hair in the car since that day, which confirms for me that she really was making her presence known, on that particular day, when she was so heavy on my mind and I was missing her so much.

I hope all of you who have an animal on the other side, are seeing signs that they are still around you as well.

Help Reunite Lula with her family

2010-08-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

A week ago today, something terrible happened to a lovely couple in Castro Valley. Their home was broken into and not only did the thieves steal computers, cameras and jewelry, they also stole their precious Lula. They are worried sick about her and have been doing everything humanly possible to find her.

They have put fliers up everywhere, posted an ad on Craig's list, visited every local vet office and shelter. They were able to get a story about Lula on Channel 2, and get some radio time on the radio station "The Bone." They have tirelessly combed the streets, followed up on every lead . . . and still Lula has not been found.

Lula is a precious little girl, not quite two years old, only 5 1/2 pounds and a bishon/papillon mix. According to her mom, she is a little girl with a big personality. She's independent and feisty and yet she is still a big cuddle bug. Understandably, her mom and dad are beside themselves with worry and will continue to do everything they can to get her back home again. Her dog sibling, Sailor misses her as well, and he really wants her to come back home.

I'm dedicating my blog this week to Lula in the hopes that you may be able to lend your support. You may be thinking that there isn't anything you can do, but there are several ways you might be able to help:

1. If you happen to live in Castro Valley or the surrounding area, you can keep an eye out for Lula.

2. If you have a little extra money, you can donate to the reward fund that has been set up to help get Lula home. Some wonderful people put a website together to help raise money to make the reward more enticing, in the hopes that whoever has Lula will be inspired to return her to her family. You can go to www.helpfindlula.com to find more information about what is being done to help get Lula home.

3. You can hold the intention that Lula will be reunited with her family very soon. I personally believe that intentions are extremely powerful and that the more people who hold a particular intention, the more energy the intention holds.

As an animal communicator, I have to admit, I have been semi-frustrated that I haven't been able to do more. I have been able to connect with Lula, and I have let her know what's going on, reminded her of how much her mom and dad love her and how hard they are working to find her and bring her back home. I was able to get a vision of the house she is being kept in, but the vision didn't include a street name or a house address. So, while I know what the house looks like, I have no idea where it is. I also got the sense that the house was close to a bakery, but so far, Lula's parents (and their wonderfully supportive friends) haven't been able to find a house that matches the house in my vision. They have combed the neighborhoods near bakeries, but still nothing.

I know all of you who read my blog are animal lovers with big hearts, so I know you understand what a terrible ordeal this is for Lula's mom and dad. Please hold the intention that Lula will be reunited with them soon. This sweet little girl deserves to be back home with her family who loves her so much.

Figures of Speech

2010-08-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

There are many expressions - "figures of speech" - that are commonly used, that we may not even really think about because we have been using them so long. A few weeks ago, one of my clients gently "schooled me" on the use of one of these figures of speech and it really stuck with me.

I was at my client's store, a high end jewelry store . . . and while attempting to walk to the back room, I tripped over a decorative gate in the showroom and knocked it off it's hinges. I was embarrassed by my gaff and made a joke about being like a "bull in a china shop." My client's response was to say, "I've got to show you something on the internet."

I had no idea where she was going with that statement, as I was still focused on how much my toe was throbbing and how embarrassed I was that I was tripping through her store . . . but a minute later, I understood why she wanted me to see the video she pulled up on her computer.

It was a video that was created to dispel the myth that bulls could cause havoc in a china shop. The producers of the video simulated a "china shop" by putting big shelving units in a pen, each filled from top to bottom with pieces of china. One by one, they let bulls into the pen and each bull ran around the pen, up the down the spaces between the "china cabinets" but never once did one of the bulls run into one of the shelves, not once did they break a single piece of china.

It was clear from watching the video that "being like a bull in a china shop" didn't mean what the expression intended . . . shelves weren't knocked over, china wasn't broken on the ground, the bulls couldn't have been more agile, more "respectful" of the china.

I realized in that moment that I needed to remove that figure of speech from my vocabulary. After all, it clearly wasn't fair to bulls, as it wasn't an accurate representation of how bulls behave when in close proximity with china.

After seeing the video, I had no choice but to accept the fact that this figure of speech that I had been using most of my life was something that wasn't "true" and since I feel so strongly about always speaking the truth, it wasn't something I could say anymore.

So, to the bulls out there in the world, I apologize and I promise to not spread untruths anymore :-)

Communication from the other side

2010-07-31T17:28:00.001-07:00

Several months ago, a friend of mine loaned me a book by Jeffrey Wands called "The Psychic in You." At the time she gave it to me, she said there probably wasn't much in it I didn't already know, but she still thought I would enjoy it.

It's been sitting on the table, with a stack of other books that I hope to read someday, and I had been wondering if I should just return it to my friend, since I haven't found much time for reading lately but the other day, I felt compelled to pick up the book. I sat down on the couch and thought I'd read a chapter or two and the next thing I knew, it was way past my bedtime and I was half way through the book.

It's been an enjoyable and interesting read. Jeffrey Wands is a psychic and a medium and in the book, he shares stories about his experiences with his clients and those on the other side, that he communicates with. He also writes about how he learned about his psychic abilities and how he learned to trust and embrace his abilities over the years.

I've been feeling inspired to learn more about communicating with those on the other side, so the portions of the book about his medium skills were very intriguing to me. There was one part where he talked about the signs people get from their loves ones who have crossed over that really caught my attention.

It was a section on smells that those on the other side seem to be able to create, to let people know of their presence. I had heard of that before, but mostly in reference to good smells, like the smell of a mother's perfume that catches your nose or the smell of a grandfather's pipe . . . I didn't know that they can also bring forth not-so-pleasant smells, if those smells are ones they believe will clearly communicate that they are here in spirit.

He shared a story of two sisters whose father had passed many years earlier, and apparently, the father had some pretty bad body odor from time to time. Years after his passing, the sisters would occasionally catch a whiff of the pungent odor their father used to give off when he was alive and they wanted Jeffrey to confirm their father's presence in their home.

The story made me laugh out loud, as I remembered something that occurred a few months after Lucky had passed. My ex-boyfriend was over at my house and we were sitting on the couch visiting. At one point, I went into the kitchen to refill our water glasses and when I walked back into the family room, my ex was standing up with this really odd look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "I swear, I just smelled Lucky's gas." I looked at him inquisitively and then played along as he asked me to smell here and there, but I didn't smell anything. I joked that maybe Lucky had come to visit him, but I wasn't serious, because it didn't occur to me that they could really come through with unpleasant smells from the other side.

But, as I was reading Jeffrey's book, I realized that it probably WAS her and it seemed fitting that she would come through to him that way, since he was probably more bothered by her bad gas than anyone else I knew. I had gotten so used to it, I barely noticed it anymore, but he was always bothered by it, often feeling like he could throw up when he smelled it. It made me smile to think she was making an effort to reach him, especially since he isn't too sure about the "other side" stuff and always believed that when we die, that's it. Maybe she was trying to help him re-evaluate his position on the spirit world by giving him a sign that only she could create. :-)

If you're interested in exploring your psychic abilities, I recommend the book. It's an easy read and his stories are entertaining as well as thought provoking. It definitely made me more aware of what I am smelling around the house since I started reading his book. :-)

Communicating with Animals

2010-07-24T18:11:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, a couple people were asking me exactly how animal communication works. They wanted to know if I actually heard answers to the questions I asked animals or if I got the information another way. I really had to think to answer the question at first, because it wasn't a simple answer and because I have been able to communicate with animals since I was a little girl, it's not something I even think about anymore.

I get information in so many different ways . . . by actually feeling what the animal is feeling, by pictures they give me (that I often have to interpret), by watching their reaction to the things I say and sometimes just by "knowing" the answer without having to even think about it - as if information was just put into my head. Chances are, other animal communicators get information in other ways as well. There isn't just one way to communicate with animals as they each have their own styles, their own way of sharing information.

In the event that any of you are as curious as the folks I spoke with a few weeks ago, I thought I'd share a few examples of how I pick up information. I believe we all have the ability to communicate with animals, it's often just a matter of developing the skill, so maybe this information will help you in your own quest to communicate with your animals.

When I pick up what the animal is feeling, I literally feel their feelings. It is often in response to a question or what someone has said, like the time one of my clients asked me how their dog was feeling about an upcoming trip and I immediately felt anxiety running through my body. Or the time I was working with a dog and one of his guardians made a comment about how dumb he was, and I immediately felt sadness and some frustration. When I said, "I don't believe he is dumb at all, in fact I believe he is quite smart" the dog immediately ran over to me and licked my knee.

Sometimes the information comes from pictures I get in my mind. The other day, I was giving a reiki treatment to a dog who had never had one before, although the humans and other animals in the house have had reiki treatments before. I was commenting to the guardian that I was surprised at how calm he was, as often animals are a bit nervous the first time they get a reiki treatment and as soon as I said it, I got an image of one of the other dogs in the house. I laughed and said, "Oh, Guy told him what to expect, that's why he isn't nervous."

Another way I get information is just by watching the animal I am working with. I have learned over the years that it is very important to pay attention to what is being said in the presence of animals because their behavior will often tell you how they feel about what has been said. One time, I was working with a dog who had severe separation anxiety. The dog was relaxing on the floor with me and her guardians, enjoying the reiki treatment, when the guardians brought up a recent incident where the dog had chewed up the inside of their car during a bad bout of separation anxiety. The dog immediately jumped up and hid on the other side of the room. There wasn't any other interpretation besides "the dog feels really bad about doing that to your car." Her guardians assured her that they weren't upset with her, they were just worried about her and wanted to help her feel less anxious. Once they said that, she walked back over to where we were sitting on the floor and laid down in front of me, ready to resume her reiki treatment.

It's a little harder to describe the last way I pick up information . . . when something is just in my head. It happened today, when I was sitting in the backyard working on my tan and a crossword puzzle. :-) I heard the buzz of a hummingbird and looked up from the paper. Right there in front of me was a beautiful hummingbird, idling steadily at eye level for a minute. The next thing I knew, I was saying, "I'm sorry, I'll take care of it now." It took me a second or two to figure out what I was responding to because my response was so automatic, but I quickly realized the hummingbird told me that the water in the feeder needed to be changed. As I had promised, I immediately got up, washed out the hummingbird feeder and refilled it with a fresh batch of sugar water. It has made me smile this afternoon to see visits from at least ten hummingbirds since I freshened up their supply. I think they are pleased that I was able to get the message that was delivered to me.

As I mentioned before, I believe we all have the ability to communicate with animals. It's just a matter of paying attention to what we pick up and then learning to trust that information. So, when you are talking to your animals, watch how they react to what you say, pay attention to how you feel and what pictures pop into your mind. You may be surprised by what you can pick up yourself. From experience, I would say, learning to trust what you pick up is actually the more difficult part of learning to communicate with animals, but in time, that trust will come.

Give it a try and see what you able to do yourself! I think your animals will appreciate the effort, regardless of how good you are at first.

Happy Birthday Lucky

2010-07-17T16:42:00.001-07:00

This past Monday, July 12th was Lucky's birthday. She would have been 15 years old, if she was still here. I felt it was important to honor her on her birthday . . . I just wasn't sure how.

Our annual tradition to celebrate her birthday consisted of going to Bill's Cafe, our favorite restaurant, where Lucky would get a side of sausage, that she was allowed to eat all herself . . . and then we would head over to our favorite beach in Aptos. Lucky would chase her tennis ball

and play in the water until she could barely walk anymore. It was what we did every year, with the exception of last year. Since she wasn't able to chase the ball anymore, we skipped the trip to the beach and went to the park instead. We did however go to Bill's, so she could enjoy her side of sausage. :-)

This year, as her birthday neared, I was unsure of what I wanted to do to celebrate. I wasn't sure if I was up for going to Bill's without her. I knew I would probably go to the beach, but I wasn't sure what else I wanted to do. The night before her birthday, I felt a strong pull to get my video tapes of her and watch them. I spent some time Sunday night watching video of her. Much to my delight, watching the videos just made me smile. No tears, no sadness, just a lot of laughter as I watched her, so full of life, opening presents, eating sausages, playing in the ocean.

The next morning, I got up and after getting some coffee in me, I found myself pulled back to the couch to watch some more video of her. I came across birthday after birthday, listened to my voice off camera saying, "Would you like to go to the beach?" and watching her cock her head and then jump up to get ready . . . and hearing my voice ask, "Are you having a good birthday, sweet girl?" as we played at the beach. I giggled as I watched her open her gifts each year (the wrapping was merely a plastic grocery bag that I would tie on top and Lucky was quite an expert at untying the bag to find what was inside).

As I sat there on the couch, enjoying the videos, I was still mulling over what I would do next. I still didn't feel like I was up for going to Bill's, but felt that going to the beach would probably be alright. All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door and it was one of my best friends, delivering a side of sausage that he had just picked up from Bill's. I was so touched, I shed my first tears of the day.

A little while later, I left for the beach. I could feel Lucky with me when I got into the car and it made me smile. I pulled out a subdudes CD that I hadn't listened to in a while (a live CD from many years ago), and popped it into the CD player. It was smooth sailing over Hwy 17 until we got to Hwy 1 and then traffic was almost at a dead stop. My usual 35 min. trip to the beach had turned into a 55 min. trip but for some reason it didn't stress me out. I was enjoying the music and knew I'd get to the beach soon enough.

As I exited the freeway, the song Suger Pie came on. I was surprised because I had forgotten it was even on that CD. I made a mental note that if traffic hadn't been so bad, I wouldn't still be in the car when that particular song came on. And as I pulled up in front of the beach, the most meaningful lines of that song began. The hair stood up on my arms and it felt like it was divinely orchestrated.

The lyrics at that moments were: "Now time has passed and you're so far away, can't get used to not seeing you each day . . . but there's one place in the back of my mind, where I can go to see you anytime . . . and for you to me, forever you will be my sugar pie, sugar pie, sit by me." Fighting back a few tears, I got out of the car and made my way down to the beach.

I hoped I might find a sand dollar (I thought it might be nice to have a momento to remember the day) so as I walked a couple of miles down the beach, I kept scanning the sand in front of me, looking for a sand dollar, but I never saw one. When I turned around and began walking back in the direction I came from, I set the intention "If I'm meant to find a sand dollar, it will be right in front of me and I won't have to look for it."

As I walked back, I spent more time looking at the water, and just enjoying the scenery. After about a mile, I looked ahead and saw a german shepherd coming my way. It made me smile from ear to ear and as I passed the shepherd and his guardian, I said, "You have a beautiful shepherd" and he smiled back and said, "thank you." I took two more steps and then right there in front of me was a sand dollar . . . a perfectly pristine sand dollar. I picked it up and held it in my hands. It made me happier than words can explain. I smiled from head to toe.

When I left the beach, I wasn't quite ready to head back over the hill, so I decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in Santa Cruz, a Hawaiian grill that has fantastic poke. They have an outdoor patio that welcomes dogs, so over the years, Lucky and I had been there together quite a few times. I got some poke and a beer and sat on the outside patio, just enjoying the experience, thinking about the interesting coincidences of the day (Sugar Pie coming on as I pulled up in front of our beach, finding the sand dollar seconds after seeing the german shepherd). I felt like she was there with me and it felt good. I said, quietly enough that no one else on the patio could hear me, "Are you having a good birthday, sweet girl?" I felt the answer was yes.

When I got up to leave the restaurant, three people walked by . . . each with a german shepherd on the end of their leashes. I got a knot in my throat, but mostly, it just made me smile.

The gift that I got, from honoring Lucky's birthday this year and watching the videos of her, was the reminder that she enjoyed life . . . and the more simple the pleasure, the more wonderful it was to her . . . it was one of the ways she and I were alike. Finding the sand dollar made my day. I didn't need anything else to make it a perfect day. Having a friend remember me and Lucky's tradition of going to Bill's and being kind enough to pick up a side of sausage for me on her birthday touched me deep in my soul.

It didn't take much to make the two of us happy beyond words. This concept of simple pleasures was something that was reinforced by Lucky over all the years we were together. She got tremendous joy from the simplest things, but she was in no way simple. She loved very deeply but never lost track of herself. She knew what she wanted, but she didn't want for much.

Getting a tablespoon of yogurt in the morning made her eyes sparkle . . . being able to lick the spoon sent her over the moon . . . every morning. Seeing a child she knew walking towards her was enough to fill her whole heart with joy. The way Lucky lit up in the presence of children is something that I still hold as one of my most treasured memories of her. That is why I want to include these two final pictures from Lucky's birthday last year.

As I mentioned before, we weren't able to go to the beach because Lucky's back legs were no longer working, so we went to the park. She was laying there on the grass, looking a little bored and I

was feeling guilty that she wasn't having a great fourteenth birthday . . . when all of the sudden, she sat up so straight and tall, it shocked me. I swear, she had a smile on her face and her eyes just sparkled. When I turned around to see what had grabbed her attention, I saw one of her little three year old friends walking towards us with her dad. The joy that Lucky felt was obvious to anyone who was in the vicinity and it was contagious. She just lit up and when her little friend got over to her, she greeted her as if she had just been given the most amazing, spectacular present anyone had ever received on their birthday.

I know my sweet girl is still guiding me from the other side, helping me to remember what is important in life . . . helping me to remember that the sweetest joys in life can often be the most simple ones.

Dealing with grief

2010-07-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

This week, I got an email from one of my clients who lost her beloved dog this spring. She attended a Pet Memorial Collage workshop at the Silicon Valley Humane Society and felt it was a really positive experience. I thought it would be helpful to share the information, in case any of you are still grieving the loss of a pet, and are interested in exploring this as an option to further process your grief. It doesn't matter if the loss was recent or a long time ago. There is no time limit for dealing with our feelings and there is no time limit for honoring those that we loved and lost.

The next workshop is taking place on July 24th, from 2:00-4:30pm. The fee is $30 if you sign up in advance, $40 if you pay at the door. The class is held at the Humane Society, on Ames Avenue in Milpitas. You can register by going to: http://giving.hssv.org/cal

My client shared a few words about the class and I am pasting them below, so you can see what she thought of the experience in her own words:

I thought maybe you would like to recommend the pet memorial collage workshop to your clients that have lost their animals. I enjoyed the class and the teacher. We introduced ourselves and shared pictures of who we would be honoring and a little about them.

We started by putting rocks in a glass (it was to represent the grief that we carry with us). Then we did a meditation to meet with our animal and get a message from them. We were then free to work on our collages. When we were done, we put them on another table so everybody could look at them. Then we shared our collages and the story it represented to us.

We ended with the option to take our grief back home with us or to leave it. I chose to leave it. It was just nice to share the stories and be with people who have a love for animals in the same way that I do. It was a nice way to honor our animals.

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. For me, it was a mixed bag. It was my first 4th of July without Lucky, which was both good and bad. It made me miss her . . . and yet what I didn't miss was the trauma she experienced every 4th of July . . . so it many ways, it was the most relaxing 4th of July I've had in 15 years.

The sound of fireworks can be overwhelming and downright dangerous for some animals. I worry about animals more on the 4th of July than any other day of the year. We can't imagine what they experience, because our hearing isn't as good as theirs, but seeing the reaction that many animals have to the sound of fireworks made me begin to really dislike the holiday.

I spent many years in the bathtub with Lucky, which was where she would go for refuge. She would be panting and drooling, totally inconsolable. I was always afraid she would have a heart attack and I began to dread the 4th of July. I tried every kind of holistic remedy for calming her. None of them worked. One year, I even tried a pharmaceutical drug to calm her down, (I was that desperate), and even that didn't help.

About 5 years ago, someone suggested that I take her out in the car during the firework displays, since my car was more sound proof than my house, so that became our new tradition. I'd load her into the car, bring along some cd's we enjoyed and we'd just drive. We'd get to watch the fireworks, in every city we drove through on the freeway, but we didn't have to hear any of the loud booms, which helped her stay calm and made me much happier.

So this year, I didn't have to protect Lucky from the sound of the fireworks, so I didn't need to fill up my car with gas. I was at my parents house and we were sitting in the family room, with both their dogs sacked out on the couch. When the loud booming began, my heart started to race, years of protective instinct kicked in and I was ready to jump up, grab my parents dogs and head for the car . . . and much to my surprise and delight, they both slept through it all.

I sat there feeling so grateful that not all animals are as afraid of fireworks as Lucky was, and grateful that she was on "the other side" where the fireworks couldn't bother her this year. My hope is that in time, I will start liking the 4th of July again. This year was a pretty good start.

They are always with us

2010-06-27T21:20:00.001-07:00

Today, I had the honor of giving a reiki treatment to the guardian of a former animal client of mine. She has been dealing with a lot of grief since her beloved Lacy made her transition four months ago and she thought a reiki treatment might be what she needed to help her move forward.

Lacy always came to my house when she got her reiki treatments, so they decided that the wife should receive a treatment at my house as well, and we picked the same time of day that Lacy always got her treatments, 2pm. As I was getting ready for them to arrive, I wondered if Lacy would show up in spirit.

I got my first clue that she was here when I took my massage table out of it's carrying case. When I went back to retrieve something else from the case, I found a tennis ball in there, that was NOT there before. Sure, the case was sitting next to Lucky's toy basket that still has a home in the laundry room, but I couldn't explain how a ball jumped out of the basket and landed in my carrying case.

During the reiki treatment with Lacy's mom, I could sense Lacy was here, although, I wasn't sure if I should say anything or not, as her mom was already feeling pretty raw and I wasn't sure if she'd think I said it because it was what I thought she wanted to hear.

Through out the treatment, I could feel Lacy sitting on the left side of the table and then at one point, I could sense her going under the table. I was so glad that she was here and in all honesty, I wasn't surprised. The love our animals have for us doesn't change when they go to the other side, and knowing how deeply Lacy loved her parents, I had a feeling she's make sure she was here today when they came.

Lacy's dad came along to support his wife and he was relaxing on the couch reading a book during the reiki treatment. A couple times he fell asleep, still holding the book he was reading but at one point, the book fell out of his hands and it startled all of us, as it hit the coffee table and then landed on the floor. He quietly apologized, as we all giggled for a minute . . . and the reiki treatment resumed.

When the treatment was over, I asked Lacy's mom how she was feeling . . . still unsure of whether I should tell her that Lacy had been here. Much to my delight, the first thing she said was, "Lacy was here, I could feel her!"

She went on to tell me where Lacy had been sitting, first on the left side of the table, then she felt her go under the table and then she settled on the right side of the table for a while. I was so thrilled to hear that she had felt Lacy's presence and also happy to know that what she felt had matched what I had picked up, although, at some point, I wasn't focused on Lacy anymore because I was focused on her mom and what I was sensing from her body during the session.

As she continued to share what she had experienced during the reiki treatment, she, her husband and I all teared up . . . she said that at one point, she felt Lacy get up and start moving around the room and in her head she thought "It must be about half way through the treatment"

The reason she thought that was because when Lacy got her reiki treatments, like clockwork, she would get up half way through, walk around a bit, go to her mom to get a treat and then settle back down for the second half of her reiki treatment. Even when I sent reiki to Lacy at a distance (which I did towards the end of her life when it was too difficult for them to make the trip down to my house), Lacy's guardians said that Lacy would still get up half way through, walk around a bit and then settle back down. It was just how she received reiki and we were so touched that she did the same thing when she was here in spirit, watching her mom get a reiki treatment.

As we were talking about Lacy's presence during the treatment, all of the sudden it occurred to me that maybe it was Lacy that knocked the book out of her dad's hands. When I shared that with him, he said it made sense because that time, he hadn't quite fallen asleep yet and he said he couldn't offer any other explanation for why the book had slipped from his hands that way. It made sense to me as well, since Lacy's dad doesn't feel energy the way her mom and I do and she probably wanted to find a way to let him feel her presence as well.

It was such a treat, for all of us, to know Lacy had come to be with them today . . . It was clear to me that Lacy wanted to share in her mom's healing process and lend her support.

As I have said many times before, I continue to be in awe of these mystical, magical creatures that we are lucky enough to share a part of our lives with. I am grateful to witness the love that continues to exist, regardless of whether the animals are here, or on the other side.

The Bees came back

2010-06-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

A month or more ago, I wrote a blog about the strange incident I had, where on one particular day I kept finding bees in the house. In the previous 15 years I have lived here, never once did a single bee come into the house, so I found it extremely odd that so many bees would find their way into my house on that one day.

Well, it happened again this Wednesday, only this time it was different. From the first bee I found, I knew they weren't here to deliver the same message as the previous bees, because the energy of these bees was so different.

Last time, the bees that I was rescuing from indoors were somewhat docile, seemingly appreciative of my help in transporting them outside, but this time, the bees were feisty and on edge. I couldn't believe how hard they made me work to get them into a cup, for their trip out to the yard. One bee insisted on walking on the ceiling, where I couldn't reach him, so I went and got a chair and as soon as I stepped up on the chair, he flew to another spot a couple feet away and began walking on that part of the ceiling. I worked harder at getting the first two bees out of the house than I did getting the previous seven out of the house. I couldn't figure out what in the heck was going on.

After I got the first three bees out of the house, I pulled out my Animal Speak book (Ted Andrews) and looked up bees to see what they could possibly be trying to tell me. There are many different things a bee can be trying to tell you when they "show up" so I read through all the possibilities. One line in particular kept grabbing my attention, and it was NOT the line that grabbed my attention the last time I was visited by so many bees. This time, the line that jumped out at me was, "Are you keeping your desires in check so they can be more productive?"

I have to admit, while I knew that was the message I was supposed to get, I had no idea what it really meant. As I was sitting there trying to open up my heart to better understand the message, I started to hear the familiar buzz again and looked up to see two more feisty bees in the front window of my family room. I can't tell you how long it took me to finally get the two of them in the "transport cup" but I had worked up quite a sweat by the time they were finally relocated to the backyard.

I sat down again to try and figure out what that line really meant, and could feel irritation in my body. I just couldn't believe how difficult they had all been. All five of them made me really work to get them out of the house and it made me mad. I missed the previous set of bees that came to visit, as they were so much easier to work with. As I sat there, realizing how edgy I was feeling, the message finally came through clearly . . . I had been having a tough couple of days and I realized in that moment that I had been focusing for days on what I DIDN'T want in my life.

I happen to believe that our thoughts manifest our reality, and given where I had been focusing my attention, it was clear I was on the verge of bringing a whole lot more of what I didn't want into my life. The bees were trying to give me a wake up call.

Just then, I heard the buzzing sound again. I was dumbfounded. After I got the last bee out of the house, I checked every window in the house to ensure there were no more bees and I made sure the backdoor was closed so no one else could come in. I have no idea how he got in, but there he was.

As I was chasing him around with the "transport cup," I explained to him that I had finally gotten the message and asked him to let all his friends know that I finally got it. I asked him to let them know I appreciated them all for making such a big effort to get through to me. I promised him that I would keep my thoughts focused on what I DID want in my life (keeping my desires in check) so that I could bring in more of what I wanted.

Interestingly enough, not a single bee has come into the house since then. Over the last three days, I have had the back door wide opened (I think I mentioned before that I don't use my screen door, since Lucky was kind enough to make german shepherd size holes in it for me) and still, not a single bee has come into the house. Clearly, they knew their message had been received and they didn't have to try to communicate with me anymore.

I am determined to keep focusing on what I DO want in my life, so they won't have a reason to come back and give me another wake up call. :-)

Learning from our animals

2010-06-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I was having dinner with an old boyfriend of mine. We haven't been in touch much in the last 15+ years, so there was a lot to catch up on. As we talked, I kept noticing this puzzled look on his face when I would speak about the work I do now, and what I believe about animals. It made me laugh when I realized why he was so confused.

He knew me back in the early 90's, when I was working in the corporate world and had not yet reacquainted myself with my intuitive abilities or studied energy healing, therefore, the things I am doing now are quite foreign to him. On top of that, he is now a biology professor, so in many ways, he can't quite wrap his mind around the things that I believe, because he is used to having a lot of "proof" and a lot of scientific evidence to support his beliefs.

Through out dinner, he would occasionally ask me questions about his dog and when I would answer, he would look at me with confusion and mild disbelief. Such as, when he asked me what I sensed about his dog Oscar, and I said that I felt he was insecure at times and seemed unsure in moments that he was loved. He seemed surprised that I knew that, but admitted that he felt that too.

Then he asked what he could do about it. I told him it would help if he could give Oscar reassurance, let him know that he is loved, that he will always be loved. He stared at me blankly for a few minutes and then said, "But how do I do that?" and I said, "You just tell him that" and he said, "But he's a dog, he won't understand what I am saying."

He was very serious, so I gently explained to him that animals learn our language the same way babies learn our language . . . . by hearing it. I told him that the more exposure babies have to people talking, the more words they pick up, and that animals are no different. He sat there, staring at me, trying to wrap his mind around what I had just said.

While I was explaining this to him, Oscar came and sat next to me, and kept looking up at me with appreciation. My friend asked, "What is he telling you?" and I said, "He's really happy that I am educating you about this, because he wants you to know that he can understand everything you say." There was dead silence for a while, as Oscar continued to wag his tail and lean into me.

After a while, my friend said, "You said before that animals come into our lives for a reason, so what is the reason Oscar came into in my life?" I told him that animals often help us learn by mirroring the same things that we need to learn, and that by helping them, we discover we can help ourselves too. He looked really puzzled, so I gave him a few examples, such as by finding ways to help Lucky heal from her emotional wounds, I found I too could heal my own emotional wounds, or a client of mine whose dog was anxious all the time and when she found ways to help ease her dog's anxiety, she realized that she too was anxious all the time and used the same things to help herself be less anxious.

He still looked really puzzled, so I said, "Do you see any of yourself in Oscar?" and he said, "Well, we were just talking about how Oscar is insecure sometimes and worries that he isn't always loved" and then he was silent. I waited for a while, and then I said, "Is that something you see in yourself?" and I saw all the color go out of his face and he looked really uncomfortable. After a few more minutes he said, "I guess I have a lot to think about."

I didn't want to make him anymore uncomfortable, so I decided to change the subject. I said, "You said earlier you were thinking of repainting a couple of rooms, do you want to show me the colors you are considering?" and it was obvious by how quickly he jumped up and grabbed the paint samples that he was really relieved we had moved on to a different topic. :-)

My hope is that some day, both he and Oscar will no longer feel any insecurity and that they will both know, every minute of every day, that they are loved. After all, isn't that what we all deserve?

Animal Apologies

2010-06-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, when I was giving reiki to one of my cat clients, we had a little mishap that allowed me the witness the depth with which animals feel.

It happened when we had just gotten started. I was sitting on the floor cross legged and the cat had settled down in my lap, stretched across my left thigh. His guardian was seated on the couch in front of me and his dog sibling was sitting on the floor next to us, waiting for her turn. I was just tuning into his body, getting a sense of how he was feeling physically, when the dog got a tickle in her ear and shook her head. The sound of her ears flapping against the sides of her head startled the cat with such intensity that his fight or flight instinct kicked in. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but in some ways, it felt like it was happening in slow motion.

In a few rapid seconds, I felt claws simultaneously digging into various parts of my body, as he attempted to spring off my lap to safety . . . a couple of swear words sprung from my lips as I felt a searing pain from one of his claws puncturing one of my fingers . . . the dog jumped to her feet, in a panic . . . and the guardian yelled "Oh no!"

We went from peacefulness to total chaos in a split second. My first thought was to apologize for the stream of swear words that flew out of my mouth, I was really embarrassed about that, but the guardian interrupted me with a wave of her hand and said "I would have said worse."

Then she said, "We've got to get your cleaned up and you should check your clothes, it sounded like they got ripped somewhere." As she walked towards the bathroom to get bandaids and neosporin, I looked down at my hand and realized that there was blood everywhere. I think every one of his claws must have made contact with my hand as he was making his get away. I checked my pants and didn't see any rips, which surprised both of us.

I went into the bathroom and started cleaning up my hand, when I felt a tickle on my ankle. I pulled up my pant leg to look and realized it was blood running down my leg from cuts on my shin. We laughed when we realized the 'ripping' sound we heard was probably my skin ripping, not my clothing. It took a few minutes, but eventually we got everything bandaged up and went back in the front room to resume the reiki treatment.

I sat back down on the floor, the dog sat down next to me, the guardian sat back on the couch, but the cat was afraid to come back on my lap. It surprised me at first. In all the chaos, we were so focused on just stopping the bleeding, I wasn't thinking about how the cat felt. Once I tuned into him, I could tell how bad he felt about what happened. I assured him that I wasn't mad at him at all, that I knew it was an accident and that I was sure I was going to be fine. He walked across my lap a few times but seemed afraid to sit back down. I admitted to him that I was a little nervous too and suggested he sit in between my legs, rather than on them. He liked that idea and immediately settled into the space between my legs.

He asked me a few times if I was sure I wasn't upset with him and each time, I assured him that I wasn't. Finally, I realized that each time he asked, it was right after I had been thinking about how that one finger was still throbbing, so I explained to him that while I was aware of how my finger felt, I wasn't concerned with how it had happened. I told him I could never be mad at him, that I adored him too much.

Several hours passed, as I worked with his dog sibling and then his guardian. I had forgotten about it completely by the time I was getting ready to leave the house. As I was standing by the front door, fishing my keys out of my purse, and saying goodbye to the guardian, I felt paws against my knee, and I'll confess, I did tense a bit when I felt a couple little faint pricks of a cats claw coming through my pants, but when I looked down and saw his sweet face, all the tension faded immediately.

His guardian looked at me with a surprised look on her face and said, "He never does that," and I had to admit, I had never seen him do that either, but he was intent on getting my attention. He stretched his little body up as high as he could, inching his paws up over my knee and it made me think that if he could have, he would have found a way to look me in the eye. I looked down at him and made eye contact, and he told me again how sorry he was that I had gotten injured. It was the sweetest gesture. He really didn't want me to leave until he was sure that I wasn't upset with him. I assured him again that I was not upset at all and told him how touched I was that he wanted to make sure everything was OK before I left.

On the drive home, I kept thinking about him and how touching it was that he wanted me to know how sorry he was and that he wanted to make sure we were OK. I know humans who would be less concerned if they hurt me. :-) So once again, I was given the opportunity to savor the sweetness that exists in our relationships with animal companions and to be in awe of them, for their depth of feelings and their capacity to express themselves. I believe we really are lucky to be able to experience animals and the breadth of their compassion. I also believe they have a lot to teach us if we're willing to listen.

Animals give thoughtful answers

2010-05-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

This past week, when I went to give a reiki treatment to one of my animal clients, her guardian told me that she and her husband had been trying to figure out if their dog would like another dog companion. She asked me if I could talk to her dog about it, which I was happy to do.

It was such an enjoyable conversation and a sweet reminder of just how robust the thought processes of animals are. They think, they feel, they process information, just as we do, and they really appreciate it when all those thoughts and feelings are acknowledged.

When we started talking about it, her first question was, "What would the dog look like?" Her guardian confirmed that if they got another dog, it would be the same breed as she was, so the answer was "He or she would look a lot like you." She was quiet for a few minutes and I could tell she was really thinking about how she wanted to respond.

When she was ready to talk, she told me she was not sure if she wanted another dog in the house. She explained that she was conflicted, because she really did like playing with other dogs and she thought it would be fun to have someone around to play with all the time and at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to share her mom and dad with anyone else. She really wasn't sure what she wanted.

We told her that we understood how she felt and that there was no pressure. She asked if we could check in again in six months and ask her again. Her mom smiled and said, "Of course, we can talk about it again in six months."

This sweet little dog thought about it a little longer and then had some more ideas. She wanted to know if her mom and dad could babysit some other dogs in the next six months, so she could get a feel for what it would be like to have another dog around all day and night. She thought that it would be important for her to "try it out" and see what it was really like to share her mom and dad with someone else, especially at night. Her mom agreed that if the opportunity presented itself, they would certainly babysit the dogs of any of their friends who were going out of town, so she could see what it was like.

This pleased her immensely and she seemed so content. She appreciated the fact that her mom and dad were interested in her opinion and she was so happy everyone understood her concerns. She closed her eyes and just soaked up the reiki after that. She got so relaxed, she even fell into a sound sleep during the last part of her reiki treatment.

One of the things I love about the work I do with animals is they never cease to amaze me. Even though I know they think and feel and process things, to have the opportunity to witness it again and again is still one of the sweetest parts of my job. I am in awe of animals, of their minds and of their hearts . . . and I think I will be for the rest of my life.

Reading body language

2010-05-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

I often tell people that even if they can't receive telepathic messages from their animal, they can still communicate with them. It's just a matter of watching their animals' body language when they talk to them. Animals will give you answers and show you what they think of what you are saying, through their body language. By watching them, and their reactions to what you say, you have a wonderful way to enhance your own communication with your animal.

I find that I coach my clients a lot, to help them better communicate with their animals, so that they don't always need someone like me. It's not that I want to put myself out of a job :-) I just believe very strongly that the better we can communicate with our animals, the stronger our bond can be and I want to do what I can to help strengthen the bonds between humans and their animals.

Recently, I was at a client's house and she was telling me that one of her cats was driving her batty because she didn't know what she was asking for when she would meow loudly. She was telling me that when her cat starts meowing like crazy, it makes her crazy because she doesn't know what she needs . . . Is she hungry? Is she in pain? Does she just want attention? Is she trying to tell her something else?

I suggested that she tell her cat, "If you're trying to tell me this, then this is what I need you to do." She looked at me with a puzzled look on her face and just as I was trying to figure out a better way to say what I had just said, her cat came into the room and started meowing like crazy. Her guardian said "See, this is what I am talking about." I asked her, "What do you think she's trying to tell you?" and she said, "I don't know, maybe she's hungry" so I said, "Well, then tell her, "If you want food, I need you to go stand by your bowl" and immediately, her cat walked over to her bowl. Her guardian giggled with delight over the clear communication she was receiving and promptly opened a can of cat food and put it in the bowl. All was quiet, as her cat happily devoured the can of food.

The next time I was at her house, she said, "I need you to talk to my other cat Niko, he's been beating up one of my other cats recently and I don't like it." So, when Niko came into the room, I started to talk to him, explaining that it wasn't ok for him to beat up his brother and immediately he turned his head the other way, refusing to look at us. His mom and I couldn't help but laugh, seeing his obvious reaction to what I was saying to him. We started to talk about something else and Niko began having eye contact with us again, but when I went back to talking to him about how he needed to stop beating up his brother, once again, he turned his head away, refusing to look at me while I was talking to him. Clearly, he was telling us that he didn't want to hear what I was saying.

That was just a few days ago and I'm still waiting up an update from Niko's guardian. If there hasn't been any change in his behavior, I'll need to talk to him some more the next time I am there and see if I can find out why he's suddenly so intent on beating up his brother.

I think you will find that you can increase your understanding of your animals if you observe their body language more closely. Talk to them and see how they respond. They may surprise you, by showing you they know exactly what you are saying to them.

Animals as Guides

2010-05-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

I believe that all animals are willing and able to serve as our guides while we are here on earth. The key is whether or not we're paying attention enough to receive the guidance they are sharing with us. While we most often think of our pets playing this role, the truth is, any animal, bird, reptile or insect that we encounter, may be attempting to give us guidance.

I have written about this before in past blogs, and mentioned one of my favorite books, Animal Speak, by Ted Andrews, that I frequently refer to when an animal "shows up" in a way that catches my attention. I emphasize "show up" because when we are getting guidance, the animal (or bird, reptile, insect) will make a point of getting our attention.

For instance, I see crows in my neighborhood all the time, I see and hear them when I am sitting in my backyard but I don't necessarily see that as "showing up." On the other hand, the other day, when I was sitting in the backyard, a crow landed on my fence right in my line of sight and then he sat there and stared at me for quite a few minutes, not moving, not adjusting his gaze. I knew he was "showing up," so I went inside to get my Animal Speaks book and see what guidance he was offering me.

The other night, I was leaving a clients house and she mentioned that a couple nights earlier, a friend had driven her home and they were sitting in the car visiting. They saw an opossum walk in front of the car, not once but twice. I told her my assumption was that the opossum was trying to get their attention. Of course, we can interpret the presence of an animal anyway we want. We can think "Ick, what is that thing doing in front of my house?" or we can consider that maybe it is trying to give us a message.

I mentioned once before that a friend of mine had been doing a lot of hiking with his wife and several days in a row, a badger crossed their path. The badger was close enough to make his presence known, but he didn't do anything to frighten them. He and his wife thought it was odd although they didn't give it much thought beyond that, but when I read to him, from Animal Speak, what a badger represents when they "show up" his jaw dropped. He said he couldn't believe how clearly the "message" related to the very things that were going on at the time for he and his wife, the very things they had been discussing while they were out hiking.

And just a couple weeks ago, I had an experience so strange, I feel compelled to share it. It was a warm day, so I had the back door opened. (I don't bother to close the screen anymore, since Lucky was kind enough to make german shepherd sized holes in it for me. I am sure she was thinking it would be helpful to me if I didn't have to get up and open the screen door when she wanted to go out back). :-) So, the backdoor was wide opened and I was up in my office. I heard a strange buzzing sound and looked behind the blinds in the window and realized a bee was buzzing against the glass. I told him to follow me and I'd show him the way back downstairs and out of the house but he didn't follow me. :-)

I got distracted when the phone rang, then got busy doing other things and finally went back up to my office to send some emails an hour or two later. When I sat down, I heard the buzzing again only this time it was louder. I looked behind the wood blinds and saw not one but two bees. I rushed downstairs, got a cup and a piece of paper, since I now knew I wasn't going to get the bees to follow voice commands, and went back up to begin the rescue mission.

I gently scooped the first bee into the cup, put the paper over the top so he wouldn't fly out and then deposited him on some flowers in the backyard. When I came back in, I closed the door, so he couldn't accidentally come back in, then headed upstairs to rescue the second one, only to discover there were three bees there. One by one, I gently scooped them into the cup, brought them outside, closing the backdoor behind me to ensure they didn't come back in.

Once I got all four of them safely outside, I heard the dryer buzz, so I went to the laundry room to get my clothes out of the dryer when I heard that familiar buzzing again. I looked around and sure enough, I found another bee in the laundry room. I went and got the cup again and got him transported to the flowers outside.

After I folded the laundry and put everything away, I sat down on the couch and once again, I heard buzzing. I couldn't believe it. It felt like I was in some alternate universe. In all the years I have lived here, never once has a bee come into the house. I looked behind the shutters in the front window and found two more bees. Once again, I got the cup and piece of paper and one by one, brought them outside, closing the door behind me each time.

I was thinking to myself "What in the heck is going on?" and "Why did all these bees want to come inside the house today?" when all of the sudden it dawned on me . . . they were clearly trying to get my attention. I grabbed my Animal Speak book and read up on what it means when a bee "shows up" in your life (or seven of them) :-) I smiled as I read what they represent, because they were things I definitely needed to hear that day.

So, I encourage you to pay more attention, whether you are at home, or out in nature, or on your way to or from work . . . are any animals, birds, reptiles or insects "showing up," trying to get your attention? They just might have an important message for you.

My Uncle Jim

2010-05-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past week, my uncle Jim unexpectedly passed away. It came as a shock to everyone because he wasn't ill and seemed to be in good health. When my cousin (his daughter) asked if any family or friends wanted to write a favorite story about her dad, I knew it would be a good thing for me to do, since writing seems to be one of the best ways for me to process my feelings when someone dies.

I sat down and wrote out a few of my favorite memories of my uncle Jim, then sent them to my brother and sister, to have them check facts for me, since I wasn't sure if my memory of the events was accurate. Apparently, either my memory is great, or theirs are no better than mine because they didn't see anything that needed to be changed. :-)

I decided to share one of the stories in my blog this week, in part to honor my uncle Jim and also because it's a story about one of my favorite childhood dogs, Clancy, and it was fun to remember how he ended up being a permanent member of our family.

We grew up in California, so we didn’t get to interact much with all our relatives on the east coast. We got to see Uncle Jim more than anyone because his work would often bring him out to the west coast, but I still didn’t know him well. I had always assumed people on the east coast were no-nonsense types, conservative, more formal, and less emotional than those of us in California. I have no idea how I formed this opinion, but thanks to uncle Jim, I learned that those generalizations I had made about east-coast folks were wrong.

One year, back around 1979 or 1980, uncle Jim was in California on business and came over for dinner. We had just adopted a new dog a couple of days earlier and my parents weren’t sure they were going to let us keep him. Us kids, of course, had fallen in love with the dog and were determined to keep him.

Somehow in all the commotion that evening, our new dog, Clancy, slipped out of the house. When we finally discovered that he was missing, we were all frantic. I don’t even know if we were done with dinner yet, but immediately everyone was up from the table and out the door, in search of our missing dog.

This was when I began discovering my misconceptions about uncle Jim. I assumed that he would think we were all crazy for making such a big deal about a dog we had only had for a couple of days, but much to my delight, he joined in the search and seemed just as concerned as the rest of us that the dog was missing. There he was, walking the streets of a neighborhood he wasn’t familiar with, yelling “Clancy, Clancy!” along with the rest of us.

After an hour or so of combing the neighborhood, we came back to the house to regroup. Uncle Jim and I were walking into the kitchen together, when I heard my mom talking out loud to God. She said that if he helped bring Clancy back, he would never have to leave again, that we would for sure keep him. I don’t know what I was happier about, that I heard my mom make this promise to God, or that I had uncle Jim as a witness.

After several more hours of frantic searching, we finally found Clancy! When he was safely back in our house, us kids were excitedly telling him that he was going to get to stay forever, when my dad said, “We don’t know that yet.” I quickly pointed out that I had heard mom make a promise to God that he would get to stay. I saw my mom hesitate for a minute, so I chimed in with, “And uncle Jim heard her too.” And that seemed to be all it took to secure her promise and give Clancy his forever home.

I was delighted to find out that night that my Uncle Jim had such a good and caring heart and that he was willing to side with the kids when it came down to parents vs. kids. After that visit, I had a whole new perspective on my uncle Jim and looked forward to his next visit.

I sent the above story, as well as another one to my cousin and the next day, I got an email back from her telling me how much she, her mom and her sister had enjoyed the stories. She said the stories made them all laugh and cry and she wanted me to know how much they appreciated them.

It got me thinking about how much it means to someone to know what their loved one meant to other people, whether that loved one is a person or an animal. To know how someone's life was impacted by the deceased shifts the focus to their life, rather than their death, and to me, that is one of the most important things we can do . . . to honor the life, instead of focusing on the death.

So if you encounter someone who has lost a loved one, whether it's a person or an animal, and that loved one touched your life or impacted you in some way, I hope you will let them know. You will be giving them a great gift, helping them to focus on their loved ones life, helping them to remember why that life was so important . . . and giving them something positive to focus on in the difficult weeks and months that lie ahead.

Grief Support

2010-04-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been thinking a lot lately about the sadness that comes along with the passing of an animal companion, not just because of my own loss, but because I am faced with loss quite often in the work I do. I recently realized that since last July, I have lost approximately one animal client per month, which has been painful for me, regardless of what an honor it is to help animals and their guardians through that final and often very difficult stage.

I will confess that I have had moments here and there, where I question whether I can keep doing the work that I do. Knowing that I will have to continue to face the transition of many more animals, and knowing that I will feel each loss very deeply, weighs heavy on my heart sometimes. In those moments, where I feel overwhelmed by the losses, I try to remind myself that death is a natural part of our experience here on earth and that it is as important to honor an animal during their life as it is to honor them during their death. And still, it is a challenge that I face.

For the guardians who have suffered these loses, I do everything I can to ensure that they feel supported and not alone and yet, I am still always left wishing I could do more to ease the pain and sadness they experience. I know there is just no way around it. Losing one of our beloved animal companions is going to hurt like hell, no matter what.

In recent weeks, I have been fortunate to learn about some of the support resources that exists out there for people who have lost a pet, because Jewel's mom has been doing a fair amount of research, as she navigates through her own journey of grief, and she has been kind enough to pass along what she had found. I thought it might be helpful for me to share with all of you, the things she has shared with me.

First of all, there is a fabulous website she found called: Animals in our hearts. The website is filled with resources, such as an on-line grief support system, information on animal communication, articles about the grieving process and the afterlife, etc. They also have free teleclasses. The next one coming up on May 11th is titled, Legacies of Love: Finding the Grace in Grief. They offer other teleconference workshops on a variety of topics (including dealing with grief). It looks like a wonderful place to find support, answers and comfort.

Their web address is www.animalsinourhearts.com

There is another animal website Jewel's mom found called The Animal Communicator Forum. I was pleased to see information on this site that can help grieving guardians as well, such as an article called "Exploring Myths about Healing Grief" and a section of the website called "Death and In Spirit" that has information on the dying process, grieving and reincarnation. There is also a section where you can listen to recordings of previous teleseminars from 2009 and 2010, with many of the topics of those seminars being relevant to people who have experienced a loss.

You can locate this website at: http://animalcommunicatorforum.com

There are also some great books out there. Here are a couple of recommendations:

Animals in Spirit, by Penelope Smith and Animals and the Afterlife, by Kim Sheridan

And there is actually a place here on earth called the Rainbow Bridge. (I had no idea). It's a national monument in Utah. If you want to learn more about it, you can go to: http://www.nps.gov/rabr/index.htm

For those of you who are dealing with your own grieving process, maybe some of these resources will reach an unmet need and help you find some more peace.

As for the precious animal clients of mine who have made their transitions in the last 10 months, I miss them all very much. Each one of them touched me very deeply, and while I shed quite a few tears over each of their departures, I have felt truly honored to have been a part of their lives, and in many cases, been a part of their deaths as well.

For the guardians of these incredible animals, who had the joy and the privilege of sharing their lives with; Hanna, Bood, Lucy, Montana, Natalie, Shadow, Lacy, Jewel, Misha and Kiki . . . I hope you will all remember that the love your animal had for you when they were here is just as strong as it always was. Their physical departures can't stop the love that exists between you. And I hope you will also remember that your beloved animals are watching over you . . . still caring very deeply for you and hoping you find more and more moments of joy, as you adjust to life without them in the physical world.

Seeing a Sign

2010-04-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

I awoke Thursday morning, doing what I usually do when I wake up . . . mentally reviewing all the things that are on my schedule for the day and what I need to accomplish and then trying to will myself to get out of bed and get the day started. (Unfortunately, I’ve never been one to excitedly spring out of bed like some people do. With me, it's always been a process.)

So Thursday started out like any other morning, except that when I finished my mental review of the days activities, I felt my eyes well up with tears. I thought it was odd, as I didn’t know what there was to cry about. I laid there a while longer, fighting back the urge to cry, unable to identify what was making me feel sad. I just kept thinking “What is wrong with me today?”

Once I finally managed to get up and get some coffee in me, I got into “busy” mode . . . returning phone calls, reading and responding to emails, doing some laundry. I was determined to keep myself busy and ignore the sadness that was lurking below the surface, but in between calls, in between emails, I kept getting pictures in my mind . . . pictures of Lucky’s last day here and they were pictures that made my heart ache.

I didn't know why I kept seeing images of her in our final days together but I found myself wishing we could have that last day again . . . wishing I could lay on the floor with her, and listen to her breath, feel her fur against my face. The images would come, and then I would force myself to get working on my to-do list again . . . until the images came back into my head. After a while, I finally stopped and looked at the calendar and saw that it was April 15^th. It was 6 months ago, to the day, that Lucky passed away.

The strange thing was that I knew this “anniversary” was coming and I even warned my best friend last week that I feared I may be emotional when the day arrived, but it had been such a crazy week, between work and dealing with insurance companies, car repairs, rental cars, etc . . . I had completely forgotten it was the 15^th until I looked at the calendar.

I felt better knowing what was making me feel so teary, but I didn’t know what else I could do about it, so I kept plugging along, trying to power through my to-do list. Around 3pm, I decided to go for a run. It was the first time I had been out running since the car accident almost two weeks ago and again, I felt teary on the run. I tried to rationalize that it from the pain that I still feel in my back and neck, but I knew in reality, it was probably a sign I needed to just "be" with the feelings of sadness I felt, instead of trying to ignore them.

When I got back home, I looked at the clock and then my calender. I had an important conference call at 5pm and then a client appointment at 7pm, and it was already 4pm, so I decided I’d better give myself some time right then to work through the emotions that were coming up. It may sound odd that I was "scheduling time to be sad" but I've learned in recent years that shutting the feelings out when they are coming up doesn't do anything but make me work harder to keep the feelings at bay.

I sat down on my bed and began talking to Lucky. I told her I couldn’t believe it had already been six months since she left because in some ways, it felt like it was just a couple weeks ago. I told her I missed her terribly and that I wished she was still here. I told her I didn't know if I would ever be able to remove her bed from our room and that it makes me smile when I pull a sweater out of the closet and find her hair on it.

I picked up her urn from it's spot on the shelf and held it in my hands. On the front there is a plaque that says “Lucky (For me)” That is the title of the book that I was working on in the last few years of her life, that I have yet to finish and publish. I wondered if I would ever get the book done or if the exercise of writing it was just for she and I. I thought about how my friend David helped me decide that was the right thing to put on the plaque, when he drove us to the place where she was to be cremated. Not only was it the title of my book, but it summarized perfectly the way I felt about having her come into my life . . . it was certainly "lucky for me."

This next part, I hadn’t wanted to share with anyone, because it’s a little embarrassing, but if I don’t share this part, then the next part won’t make as much sense. So, with a cringe as I type . . . I’ll confess that the next thing I knew, I was curling up on the floor, in the spot in the hall where Lucky passed away. At first, I was in observation mode . . . I focused on what I was seeing from where I was laying, thinking about the fact that it was the last view Lucky had before she left. It made me smile because I knew she had been able to see the big beautiful tree through the window in the front of the house, and she could see the CD towers with all my treasured music. She could see the coffee table and the couch, where we spent so much time, sharing meals and playing with tennis balls. I was glad that was the view she had in her final days here, it was a nice view.

And then the tears came . . . and they came on strong. There I was, laying on the floor, clutching her urn close to my heart and sobbing. I had moments of thinking “wow, Maureen, this is kind of pathetic” but I would push those thoughts out because I knew I just needed to feel what I was feeling and the truth was, I felt sad. I still miss her with every fiber of my being.

My mind was swirling with thoughts, some of which surprised even me. I realized a lot of my sadness was over the fact that I hadn’t received any signs that she has been here in spirit, and sadness over the realization that I didn’t really need any signs to know that she has been around.

I used to watch Crossing Over with John Edward all the time and I remembered how many times spirits came through to people who were totally skeptical about “the other side” and how it seemed to be more important for spirits to get through to those who didn’t believe in an after life. I realized that since I am not skeptical, I technically don’t “need” a sign because I already believe in the spirit world, I already believe that spirits can still see us and visit us once they cross over. But I felt sad that since I didn’t need any convincing, I may not ever get a “sign.” It felt childish but it was what I felt, so I just accepted it and tried not to judge it.

I laid there, holding her urn and crying until I felt I had gotten it all out. Then I calmly got up, put the urn back on the shelf, washed all the tears off my face and sat down to prep for my 5pm conference call. It sounds kind of odd when I type it out, but it felt very normal and very natural. It was a way for me to process what I was feeling and that is what I had done. It actually felt like a huge accomplishment for me, to just acknowledge my feelings, and give myself permission to feel them, since I spent the first 30 years of my life stuffing my feelings and judging them as a weakness. I was glad that I had given myself the time to feel, since my old pattern of stuffing feelings was attempting to resurface earlier in the day.

The conference call went well and then I got ready to go see my client. She lives about ½ hour away, so I was in the car by 6:30pm, making my way up 280. I was feeling alright, although I am more tense in the car these days, since the accident. I find that I am much more concerned about what other drivers are doing than I used to be and feel on edge when I am in the car.

I was cruising along, listening to the radio when all of the sudden a car changed lanes right in front of me. At first, I was irritated that they pulled in front of me with so little room between us but then my eyes glanced down at the license plate. It took my brain a minute to compute and I felt like I was doing one of those slow-motion-blinking things, as I tried to focus on the personalized plate in front of me. It said “LUKY4ME.” It didn’t look like a California plate . . . it was a fuzzy mixture of red and white, and as I was trying to focus more intently, to figure out what state the plate was from, the car abruptly changed lanes again, into the fast lane and zoomed off.

I wondered for a few minutes what a person with “Lucky for me” on their license plate might look like and I wanted to catch up to the person and find out, but the rental car that I am driving right now doesn’t seem to want to go any faster than 65 mph, so even though I tried for a few minutes to catch up with the car, I was unable to.

I slowed back down, wondering why I hadn't been able to see what the driver looked like and then it dawned on me . . . that I had already seen what I needed to see. It was my “sign." My sweet girl had found a way to get through to me . . . and as I continued along the freeway, I was filled with feelings of gratitude. She knew how much I wanted to see a "sign" that let me know she was still with me and she found a way to reach me. I laughed to myself as I realized it was probably also a sign that I need to stop whining about the fact that spirits only come through to skeptics. :-)

Finding the good in the not-so-good experiences

2010-04-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, I was listening to a speaker who was talking about her beliefs that something good can come from things that may not appear so good on the surface, which is a concept I believe myself. Such as when a client's animal was hit by a car years ago (which is obviously not good) but when they went to the vet because of the injured leg, the vet found a tumor that they would have never known was there, as the animal seemed to be in perfectly good health. If the tumor had gone undetected, it might not have been treatable, so in a strange way, being hit by the car ended up being a positive, since it helped them detect and remove a tumor that could have taken the animal's life far earlier.

This speaker also said that we are meant to meet the people we encounter in our lives, no matter how random the meeting may be . . . that there is a reason for everyone we cross paths with. I have had this experience myself many times. One instance that stands out in my mind is many years ago, the holistic healer I was working with told me that I would be able to help myself more if I developed better body intuition. I had no idea what he was talking about or how a person might go about developing body intuition and I left his office feeling rather confused.

Two days later, I was scheduled for a conference call with some work colleagues. We were using a conference call system where each person dialed in using a specific number, so that we could all connect. When we got on the call, we discovered several other people on the line who weren't part of our group. We realized the conference service had double booked the line, so one of my colleagues said she'd call the conference service and get it straightened out. She asked me to stay on the line, so I could let the rest of our group know what was going on. While we were waiting, I asked the other people on the call what they were meeting about and they said "We coach people on body intuition." My jaw dropped. (and yes, I ended up working with them to develop body intuition, not knowing at the time that a couple years later, I was going to change careers and really need that skill).

Last weekend, I was unfortunately involved in a bad car accident. I had stopped for a pedestrian, who was waiting at a cross walk and the car behind me stopped, but the car behind them barreled into us at a very high rate of speed. All three cars were severely damaged. (The pedestrian was fine.) We spent several hours on the side of the road waiting for police and EMT's to arrive. It was a long, frustrating night, followed by an even longer and more frustrating week.

Hours were spent on the phone dealing with insurance companies and car repair shops. The realization that the guy who caused the accident did not have insurance, even though he said he did, made the experience even more frustrating. On top of that, my back and neck were injured far worse than I thought at the time of the accident and by Wednesday, I was at a chiropractors office getting x-rays and hoping they could give me some relief from the physical pain I was experiencing.

When I met with the doctor to review my x-rays, he said, "For as awful as it was that you were in a car accident, it may have actually been a good thing because there are some things going on with your spine that really need to be addressed." I thought it was interesting, since I had just listened to the speaker the day before the accident reminding me of my belief that something good can come from things that don't seem so good on the surface. I thought the timing was interesting . . . that I was being reminded of this, the day before I was rear-ended.

As for her other message, that everyone we meet, no matter how random the meeting, come into our lives for a reason . . . I have been thinking about that a lot as well. The couple who were in the car behind me were two of the loveliest people I have ever met. They were an older couple, about my parent's age, maybe a little older. Since we were on the side of the road for several hours, we had a lot of time to visit. I remember at one point telling them that of all people I could have been involved in an accident with, I was grateful that it was people that were so nice, who I felt so safe and comfortable around. They said they felt the same way.

Since the accident was one week ago tonight, I decided to call them and see how they were doing. I ended up talking to them for 40 minutes and in spite of the difficult week we have all had (with insurance issues, car problems and back pain), we had a lovely conversation. I don't know yet why we all met each other, but the ease and pleasantness of our interactions make me feel that there is some good that will come of it. Before we hung up the phone, the husband said, "We feel like we have a new friend in you" and I admitted I felt the same way.

And there is one more interesting piece to this story. My previous chiropractor no longer works in my neighborhood, so I had to find a new one this week. I remembered that over a year ago, I received a glowing recommendation from a woman who took her dog to the same holistic vet that I took Lucky to. I dug through my old emails and finally found the name and number of her chiropractor. When I called, they had just had a cancellation 5 minutes earlier, so they were able to get me in that day. At one point, the gal who runs the front office asked me what I did for a living. When I answered her, her eyes got really big and she said, "Someone just told me the other day that I should find a reiki practitioner to help me with a health challenge I am facing, I'm so excited to meet you."

I guess the long and short of it is, I am really glad that I listened to the speaker that day, because it was a nice to be reminded of these concepts. It gave me a different perspective in which to view the events of the last week, helping me to see the positives instead of letting myself get mired in the negative aspects of what I have had to deal with this week.

I am going to be able to get some issues with my spine addressed that I didn't know existed, I have some new friends and possibly a new client. I like being able to focus on all of those aspects of the experience, as it makes it much easier to keep moving forward with a smile on my face.

What Reiki can do

2010-03-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today while I was out for a run, I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about on my blog tonight. All of the sudden, I found myself thinking about a man I used to know named Dave. I wondered why my mind had wandered there since I haven't seen him or spoken to him in several years. When I went back to trying to figure out what I wanted to write in my blog, Dave popped into my head again. I considered that maybe it was a sign I should write about him.

I met Dave many years ago when I was volunteering at some Reiki healing services that were held a couple times a month at a church in San Jose. They were opened to anyone who wanted to receive a Reiki treatment and Dave was there almost every time.

He was an older gentleman, a very gentle, soft spoken man. He suffered from tremors that made me think he had Parkinson's disease, although I never asked him. I remember when I first met him, the tremors were mostly in his hands, but as time went on, the tremors affected his jaw and eventually his legs as well. He said he felt tired all the time because he wasn't able to get restful sleep, as the tremors kept him from truly relaxing.

It was the experience of seeing Dave at these healing services that showed me what Reiki could do. When he first got on the massage table for a treatment, his tremors were so severe the table would shake but about 15-20 minutes into the treatment, the tremors would stop completely. I was always fascinated by the fact that the energy could do that. It wasn't uncommon for Dave to fall asleep during the reiki treatments. Once the tremors stopped, he was able to really relax and he would often fall into a deep sleep. When that happened, no one wanted to wake him up because he was sleeping so peacefully. It was a beautiful thing to see.

Dave told us that the only time he ever got a break from the tremors was during a reiki treatment and the relief usually continued through the rest of the night and sometimes into the next day. It was what kept him coming back week after week.

I remember early on feeling a little disappointed that the energy couldn't help his tremors go away completely but Dave had a much more positive outlook on it. He was just happy to have any break from the tremors at all, so that was what he focused on . . . the night of peacefulness he was able to experience every couple of weeks.

It was a good lesson for me, to understand that the energy will do whatever it can. Sometimes it can't do everything we'd like it to, but I do trust that the energy will do what it is meant to do. For Dave, it gave him a respite from the tremors, and that was something he was incredibly grateful for.

We may not always know or be able to see what the energy is doing. It could be addressing issues we aren't even aware we have. It could also address the issues we are hoping it will. I learned that it is best to always keep an opened mind and maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

Heaven Has Another Angel

2010-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

This past week, a very special client of mine made her transition. It hit me particularly hard and I thought it might help me if I shared the story of Jewel with you, as a way of honoring her and sorting through my own emotions about her death.

I started working with Jewel two years ago when she was almost 10 years old. She had been paralyzed for a year when I first met her and she had a tremendous impact on me. She's the one who taught me that animals can lead very happy, productive lives, even if they can’t use their back legs anymore. What I learned from Jewel helped me when Lucky lost the use of her back legs. Over the last two years, I have become very close to Jewel and her mom Tina.

When I first started giving reiki treatments to Jewel, she was having issues with her back legs swelling up and her arms getting stiff. Tina and I were amazed at how well she responded to the reiki treatments. After a few months, the swelling and stiffness went away and Tina was able to eliminate some of the medication that had been prescribed for Jewel. Jewel also had a wound deep inside her ear that would never seem to heal, and even though she would never let anyone touch her ear, but she trusted me enough to allow me to and eventually that healed up as well.

When I think about Jewel, what stands out the most are all the varied and beautiful aspects of her personality. I swear, she is one of the only dogs I have ever known who actually smiled . . . and you couldn’t help smiling back when Jewel smiled at you. And she loved flowers. She loved being surrounded by them and she loved to smell them. Tina would often pick flowers and put them in a vase next to Jewel’s bed. When I would come over and ask Jewel if I could smell her flowers, she’d immediately lift her head up and insist on smelling them too. I had never met a dog before who loved to smell flowers the way Jewel did and it tickled me to see how much joy it brought her.

Jewel was also smart, strong and determined. She believed it was her job to take care of Tina and she took that job very seriously. She loved hearing what was going on in her mom’s life and whenever I was there and our conversation turned to Tina, Jewel would get very quiet and listen intently, looking for clues as to how she might help her. If anyone ever treated Tina unkindly, it made Jewel very unhappy. It was not uncommon for Jewel to bark her head off if Tina was on the phone with someone who wasn’t being nice to her. (And if someone WAS being nice to her mom on the phone, she was as quiet as a mouse.)

There was never any question about what Jewel liked or disliked, if she was happy or unhappy. She was an incredibly clear communicator. Jewel loved her food too. I wrote about her recently, when I told the story of the first time I made a dog really mad over food. It was Jewel who got upset with me when I was talking to her mom about ways to help her lose weight. She did not want anyone messing with her food. :-) Thanks to Jewel’s Grandma, Jewel never experienced a shortage of special food treats. Jewel had a way of “twisting Grandma’s arm” to get her to share whatever she was having and Tina balanced it out by giving her ice cubes as "treats" so Jewel could keep her girlish figure. Jewel loved munching on ice cubes and would eat them all day if she could.

In recent months, as Jewel’s health began to decline, Tina’s ex boyfriend came back into the picture, to help her care for Jewel. Tina wanted to know if Jewel was OK with him being around and when I asked her, her response was, “As long as he doesn’t hurt you, he can come around as much as he wants.” That was Jewel . . . she loved her mom so much and what was most important to her was that her mom was OK.

Tina and Tony were able to put the hurt from the past aside, so they could focus on taking care of Jewel. It was really a beautiful thing to witness, the selflessness they exhibited in order to honor Jewel and take care of her. Since he was being kind to Tina, Jewel was happy to have Tony around and I think it was probably healing for all of them to be together again as a family during this difficult time. They got Jewel as a puppy and had raised her together, along with Jewel’s mate, and two of their puppies. When they broke up, all the dogs stayed with Tina but Tony was always their "dad."

Another thing I will always remember about Jewel was that she wanted to hear the truth, no matter what, which was something that was a little uncomfortable for Tina in the beginning. There were times she wanted to protect Jewel from things that were going on, but Jewel always knew if Tina was keeping things from her and she’d insist on knowing what Tina was afraid to tell her. Jewel liked everything to be out in the opened, as was the case a few weeks ago when I went to give Jewel a reiki treatment.

Jewel told me she was going to be making her transition soon and she wanted Tina to know, so that they could be prepared. The more we talked about her upcoming departure and how she wanted to spend her final time, the happier she got. By the time I was ready to leave, she was so at peace and so happy, giving me one of her big smiles and this sweet little cock of her head that I had come to love. Even though Tina and I were fighting back tears, we couldn’t ignore how comforting it was to Jewel, to have the truth out on the table. Honesty and clear communication were so important to her. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

Tina honored Jewel’s wishes and made sure she got to do everything she wanted, got to eat everything she wanted and had lots of fresh flowers around her every day. Tina and I had private conversations about some of the inevitable but upsetting decisions she needed to make, such as whether she would have Jewel buried or cremated, etc. and when I would come to the house, I would say to Tina, "Can I fill Jewel in on what we've been talking about?" and with a slight cringe, Tina would nod and then smile, to let me know I had her approval to give Jewel an update. It made Jewel happy to hear what we had discussed. I always felt it was one of the things she wanted her mom to learn, that she should never be afraid of being honest and putting everything out on the table.

Even though we knew Jewel’s time was coming to an end, it didn’t lessen the pain that came when she made her transition. On Sunday, March 14th, Jewel passed away. She was three months shy of her 12th birthday. She had a wonderful day, which included some of her most favorite things; going for a wagon ride around the neighborhood with Tina and Tony, picking (and smelling) fresh flowers on their walk and sharing the last bite of Tina’s dinner with her later that evening. Around 11pm, Jewel left her physical body and went on to the spirit world. She passed on her own, which is what she wanted, and she passed while her mom was home with her, which is what she wanted as well. She didn't want any strangers around, she just wanted to be with her mom in the end.

The next morning, Tina and Tony had me come over and talk to the other dogs. They wanted to make sure the other three understood what had happened and wanted to give them a chance to say their goodbyes to Jewel before they took her away. It was one of the most deeply touching experiences I have ever had . . . speaking with each dog individually to help them understand what was going on and then bringing them in, one at a time, to pay their respects to Jewel.

The love and respect that Tina and Tony showed for all their animals moved me to tears. Many people don’t realize that animals grieve the loss of a loved one but Tina and Tony did and they knew how important it was to give each of the dogs the opportunity to start the healing process.

I am going to miss Jewel in ways that are hard to put into words. She was such a remarkable dog and I suppose her similarities to my own sweet girl Lucky have made my heart ache even more this week. Her intelligence, her strength, the way she cared for and protected her mom, her pride and determination . . . she and Lucky were so much alike. I know what a positive impact Jewel had on Tina's life and how deeply she is grieving now over Jewel's departure. My hope is that Tina will always remember that Jewel is watching over her and making sure that Tina is remembering all the things she taught her while she was here.

Intuition

2010-03-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Many people believe that everyone is born with intuitive abilities, that we all have the ability to get guidance from some other source, whether you define that source as the Universe, angels, a connection to your 'higher self', etc.

Working from the assumption that we really all do have it, the question is, do you pay attention to it? When that thought pops into your head that you should call someone, that you should double check the stove before you leave the house, that you should confirm an appointment or a hotel reservation before venturing out, etc . . . do you heed that little voice? or do you ignore it?

Intuition can come in many forms . . . it can come as a 'knowing' - just something that pops into your head, it can come in the form of dreams (or nightmares) or through something that catches your attention, whether it's an ad in a magazine or on TV, or a conversation you overhear. It doesn't really matter how the message comes in, I think the important thing is whether or not we pay attention to it. I personally believe that the more we pay attention to our intuition, the more active it becomes and the more it can assist us.

Last night, I went to a friend's birthday party and during dinner, the conversation turned to intuition. I was pleasantly surprised to hear everyone at the table recounting times their intuition had 'spoken to them' and how glad they were that they paid attention. It was really cool to hear how opened people were to listening to that 'inner voice.'

Story after story was shared around the table . . . people who got a 'warning' and had the good sense to listen. One man told a story of a time he was stuck in heavy traffic on Hwy 17. He said he kept looking at the little dog in the car in front of him, that had his head out the window, and as he watched the dog lean farther out the opened window, something told him the dog was going to fall out of the window. Trusting that inner voice, he slowed down and made sure he put extra space between he and the car in front of him. Within minutes, sure enough, the dog came out the window and landed on the highway. Fortunately, the dog wasn't injured and because this man had paid attention to his intuition, he was far enough back and going slow enough, that he was able to stop immediately and help get the dog back in his guardian's car.

After a while, the subject turned to dreams and whether or not our dreams are also giving us messages or if it's just a sign we shouldn't eat so close to bedtime when we have strange dreams. :-) A woman shared a story of an ongoing nightmare that she has . . . that her house catches on fire and they aren't able to get out because all their bedrooms are on the second floor. She said she kept wondering if she should get ladders that can be rolled out from the upstairs bedroom windows but she never has. Her husband playfully teased her about what a worrier she is . . . that she would worry if she didn't have something to worry about. :-) My sense was that if the dream (nightmare) was recurring, maybe it was a sign that since she hadn't taken action yet, she hadn't gotten the message yet. She promised us all that she was going to go out today and get the ladders. I look forward to finding out if the nightmares finally stop, once she is 'prepared.'

So my question for you today is: Do you pay attention to your intuition when it 'speaks' to you? If not, I hope you'll start paying attention. And if you already do listen to your intuition, I hope you'll keep listening. The way I see it, we can all use a little extra help to navigate this journey we're on, so every little bit of guidance can help.

Healing for Humans

2010-03-06T17:06:00.001-08:00

When I first started my energy healing business, I was working primarily with animals, as it felt like that was what I was being guided to do. Over the last few years, more and more humans have been coming to me for healing as well. Some weeks, I even have more human clients than animal clients. I find it as much of an honor to work with humans as I do with animals and I have enjoyed seeing how my work has continued to unfold.

Quite a few of my human clients are the guardians of my animal clients. Often, they have seen how much their animals benefit from a reiki session and they are interested in trying it themselves. Some of my human clients met me when their animal was in the last stage of their life, and I worked with their animal to help them through the final part of their journey. When their animal passed away, they began getting reiki treatments themselves, to help deal with the grief they were experiencing. Some of my human clients don't have animals at all. (It's not a prerequisite) :-)

People often ask me what inspires people to explore reiki as a healing modality, and the answer is . . . just about anything. My own experience with Reiki began when I was having a lot of back pain and went to a massage therapist who incorporated reiki into her massages. At the time, I didn't know what reiki was, but I had never felt so good after a massage, so I was inspired to learn more. When I realized how much it could help not just me, but Lucky as well, I was even more motivated to explore reiki and all it could do.

People come to me for a vast array of reasons. Some are looking to just feel more peaceful and find that reiki treatments help them relax, sleep better, feel more at ease about what is going on in their lives. Some people have physical pain and get reiki treatments to help ease that pain. Others also see a chiropractor and find that having a reiki treatment after a chiropractic appointment helps them feel even better than a chiropractic appointment alone.

Some of my clients call me when they are starting to feel sick and find that they get better before they get any worse, if they get a reiki treatment. (It is believed that reiki can help boost the immune system so our bodies can more easily fight off illness). Recently, I went to see a client who was not feeling well. When I arrived at her house, I was concerned, as it sounded to me like she could have pneumonia and I wondered if she should be going to the hospital instead of seeing me. She was sure reiki was what she needed and much to both of our delights, by the next day, she was feeling better. (We thought she only seemed like she had bronchitis.) :-) She had me come again the next day to give her another reiki treatment and we joked that maybe by the following day, she'd just have a regular old cold, and sure enough, that was how she felt the next morning . . . like she just had a regular old cold.

Some of my other clients are people who feel that they want more out of life. They want more peace, they want more calm, they don’t want to be burdened by the past any longer and want to start creating a life that brings them more joy, more happiness.

In these cases, the goal is often to help them release what their body holds . . . whether it's the cell memory of experiences from the past, the aches and pains that come from stuffing their emotions for years on end, and the old, unhelpful tapes that run in their head that tell them they aren’t good enough, that they don’t deserve more, that it's selfish for them to take care of themselves, etc.

I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to approach a reiki treatment - I believe we can all get as much or as little out of energy healing as we want. The effects of reiki are not something that can be scientifically proven, yet I have seen enough "proof" myself to make me believe it can definitely be a positive addition to wellness.

If you want to feel more peaceful, I have seen it help people with that. If you have some aches and pains that are bringing you down, I have seen it help with that. And if you are looking to release old memories and hurts, I have seen it help with that too. Is it the answer to everything? No, it's not.

Is reiki a substitute for western medicine? No, sometimes we still need western medicine. I learned this myself . . . for as much as I wanted reiki to heal my thyroid disease, and eliminate the need for me to take a thyroid pill every day, it didn't. On the plus side, it did help improve my thyroid function enough that I was able to go on a lower dose of medication. That made me happy, even if I do still have to take a pill every day. ;-)

I remember when I first started getting reiki treatments, I was thrilled to just get a good nights sleep after a treatment. It was a good place to start for me and I am glad that I kept being opened to what else it could do. If you've never had a reiki treatment, maybe it's time to give it a try. You never know what it can do and how it can help you.

Including our pets in our activities

2010-02-27T15:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, I wrote about how much animals like to participate in activities with their guardians and I encouraged everyone who reads my blog to make an effort to include their pets in whatever fun they were having.

This week, one of my clients told me that the day after she read my blog, her adult children were over at her house and they decided to play a board game. Once they had begun playing, one of her cats came out to see what was going on.

She remembered that when her cat was young, she loved to lay in the empty box while the family was playing board games, so she got the box and put it on the table to see what her cat would do. Sure enough, her cat immediately jumped up on the table and got right into the box so she could join in the fun. She was so happy to know her cat still liked to join in the family games. I was so tickled by her story, it has brought a smile to my face each time I have thought about it.

Another one of my clients emailed me this week, after reading my blog, to share a funny story about her cat. She told me that last summer, she was hosting a slumber party for her daughter and a few of her friends. The girls all wanted her to style their hair so she pulled out brushes, rubber bands, clips, etc and was prepared to do french braids, pig tails or anything else the girls wanted.

As she was brushing the first girl's hair, her cat came out, jumped on the back of the chair and started running his paws through the girl's hair as well. She said all the girls squealed in delight and hoped "Tom" would help brush each of their hair. She was shocked because normally "Tom" hid when the house was full of kids, but that night, he clearly wanted to be part of the "hair party" and they were all more than happy to have him join in the fun.

As I thought about these darling stories this week, I remembered another one

of my favorite memories of Lucky. I am fortunate enough to still be close to my best friend from kindergarden, Dawn. Even though she has lived on the east coast since we were in sixth grade, we have always remained friends. A couple of years ago, she came out to visit, along with her husband and their three sons. I had never met her boys before, as she and John hadn't been out to California with them. Lucky was in heaven that week. She instantly fell in love with the boys and the feeling was obviously mutual. While she had always enjoyed playing with kids at the park, she had never been fortunate enough to have kids to play with 24/7 and she was beside herself with joy the entire time they were here. Whatever the boys were doing, she wanted to be doing it too.

One day during their visit, Lucky and I took the five of them to our special beach. I had never seen Lucky so animated. Normally, at the beach Lucky was just focused on her tennis ball. It was all about running after the ball and bringing it back to me so I would throw it again but that day, she wasn't interested in her tennis ball at all. She was only interested in what the boys were doing and she was determined to be "one of the boys."

When the boys ran into the water, Lucky ran in after them. She followed them in and out of the water, again and again. When they started digging in the sand, she got right in there and tried to help. She didn't know what she was supposed to do at first, so she stood there watching them closely for a few minutes and then when she figured out how she could help, she started digging in the sand as well. The boys were giggling up a storm the whole time.

When Dawn's husband wanted to take a picture of his sons on the beach, Lucky walked over and got right into the picture as well. She was obviously thrilled to part of the gang and lucky for her, John was happy to photograph all four of them together.

At one point, I turned to Dawn and John and said, "I'm so glad our kids finally got to meet." John thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and for the remainder of the trip, he brought it up repeatedly, laughing just as heartily each time. From that point forward, they not only called me "Aunt Maureen" but they referred to Lucky as their "cousin."

A day or two later, when Dawn and John decided to take the boys to Bonfonte Gardens, at first they didn't want to go if Lucky couldn't join them. They really did think of her as one of their friends. When the boys were inquiring as to how soon I could come out to New Jersey to visit them, one of them asked if Lucky would be able to come too. When I explained that I didn't think Lucky would be able to handle the airplane ride, since she'd have to fly in the cargo hold, they suggested that I shouldn't come visit them, unless I drove, because it wouldn't be fair to Lucky for me to go see them without her. :-) Looking through the pictures I took that week, I couldn't help but smile. They brought back so many wonderful memories.

I think it was definitely on Lucky's "Top Ten List" for best memories of her 14 years. She was so happy to be included in almost everything the boys did while they were here and it really does reinforce my belief that animals appreciate being a part of whatever we're doing. They see themselves as members of the family and like to be treated as such. I hope you'll keep looking for ways to include your animals in your activities.

Animals like to be included

2010-02-19T19:40:00.001-08:00

Fifteen years ago, I took my first trip to New Orleans. I fell in love with the city and over the years went back again and again, for Jazzfest, for Halloween, for a 49er/Saints game, etc . . . each time, having an equally magical experience. There is something very special to me about New Orleans. It was after that first trip to the Big Easy that I began celebrating Fat Tuesday each year. I would invite friends over, cook red beans and rice, and serve Hurricane's, (the house specialty at Pat O'Brien's), to honor the city and the wonderful memories of my trips there.

This past week, Fat Tuesday arrived and as usual, I cooked up some red beans and rice and invited some friends over. And per our usual tradition, every put on beads (I have quite a collection from my trips over the years) and we listened to cajun music, as well as the subdudes, since they are originally from New Orleans as well.

It was a fun evening, but I couldn't help feeling a little sad. I missed having Lucky there with me. She was always a part of the celebration, even donning beads each year, so she could be like the rest of us. It was difficult to experience another one of our traditions, without her physically here with me. I loved how much joy she got out of being a part of whatever I was doing.

I smiled to myself when I remembered the various times I was sitting in the backyard with friends and would hear Lucky tapping on the sliding glass door with her paw. I would open the door, thinking maybe she wanted to come outside to go potty, but instead, she'd just lay down in the opened doorway. We always assumed she just wanted to be able to hear our conversations, so as not to miss out on anything.

It got me thinking about how most animals really like to be included in what we're doing. They consider themselves members of the family and they like to participate in as many of our activities as possible.

My clients have warmed my heart over the years with stories of how their animals have wanted to participate in their activities . . . like one of my clients who began working out at home to exercise videos and when she was laying on her back doing crunches, her dog would come lick her face and then lay across her stomach . . . or when she was on her hands and knees doing leg lifts, her dog would keep running underneath her stomach, as if she was making a bridge for him to play under. At first, she was slightly irritated by his interruptions, but when I explained that he was just trying to enjoy the activity with her, she began finding the humor in his antics.

Another client told me a story about how her dog would sit with her when she was folding laundry and after she had folded something, her dog would pick it up and carry it into the bedroom. At first, she wasn't too pleased that her freshly washed clothes were getting slobbered on, but she did eventually see the positive in what her dog was doing - she was trying to be helpful!

And I remembered that one of my childhood dogs used to bury dog treats in my dad's suitcase when he was packing to leave on the trip. The first time it happened, he was confused and he called my mom from his hotel when he arrived, inquiring as to why she had put dog treats in his suitcase. When she swore up and down that it wasn't her, they finally realized who had done it. :-) We weren't sure if he was just giving my dad something to remember him by, or if he was hoping he was going to get to go on the trip too, thus, he needed to put HIS stuff in the suitcase. Either way, he wanted to participate in the packing process.

Just a week or so ago, another one of my clients was telling me that her dog had been pacing and seeming stressed out when she was in the baby's room reading him stories. The baby's room was the one place in the house where the dog wasn't allowed and while it didn't seem to bother the dog most of the time, it did appear to bother him during story time. She decided to start reading stories to the baby in the family room and it was clear that this pleased her dog, as he would curl up next to she and the baby and listen intently as she read.

Animals really do like to be included in what we're doing. They want to be as much a part of the family as everyone else, so if you aren't already doing so, I hope you'll find ways to start including your pets in your activities. It doesn't matter how big or small the activity is, or how big or small their part in it is. I think it will just mean a great deal to them to be joining in the fun.

Trust yourself

2010-02-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

One of unexpected "services" that I find myself providing to my clients is trying to help them develop more trust in themselves . . . their own intuition . . . their own knowledge and skills of observation, especially as it pertains to their animals.

When I am working with the guardians of my animal clients, I ask the guardians a lot of questions about what they sense, what they have observed and what they think is going on with their animal. Sure, I am picking up insights and information from the animals myself, but I believe that the best way I can help an animal is to partner with their guardian. My goal is to put together what they are sensing and seeing, with what I am picking up, and what the animal is telling me, to make it a more complete picture. I feel it would be a huge disservice to the animal to ignore their input or to ignore the input of their guardian.

In a perfect world, all veterinarians would operate this way too and never disregard what a guardian knows about their animal or what an animal is showing them either. Unfortunately, my perfect world doesn't exist yet and many of my clients are confronted with the sad truth that there are a lot of veterinarians out there who are only interested in what they know or what they believe.

Over the last couple of years, I have had many discussions with my clients about this topic. Some of them have confessed to me that they view veterinarians (any anyone with a medical degree) as an authority figure and believe they must know more than they do. It's as if being in the presence of someone who has a degree somehow trumps whatever knowledge and experience they have with their own animal.

Even if they go into the vet, sure of what tests they want or don't want, or what avenue they want to pursue, they often leave feeling frustrated that their vets didn't listen to them and they ended up agreeing to things they didn't want to do. When I try to gently coach them to speak up to their vets, I often hear, "But it just didn't feel right to push back, after all, they are the one with the medical degree."

I try to point out that while the vet may have lots of knowledge, what they don't have is experience with their animal. They aren't living with the animal, they aren't seeing the animal day in and day out. The vet doesn't have the heart connection with the animal that they do either and that matters too.

Let me say for the record, I am not demeaning ALL veterinarians. I know there are great ones out there. My frustration is with the vets that don't listen to the guardians and who don't take into account what the person who is living with that animal knows.

Twice in the last two weeks, I have received calls from clients who were in tears after a vet visit. As always, I do my best to try to help them separate out fact from assumption, separate what they "know" from what they were told and slowly, we are able to unravel all the emotions and frustrations and determine a course of action that feels right to the guardian. Yet, I continue to feel frustrated that so many of my clients are having negative experiences with veterinarians.

Based on the experiences of my clients, I would like to share some tips with you, in the hopes of helping you have better experiences with a veterinarian.

- If you don't feel comfortable with the veterinarian, don't go back. Some of the things my clients have told me are: The vet wouldn't listen to me. The vet didn't talk to my dog and acted like he wasn't even there in the room. The vet told me my dog didn't understand what we were talking about. I felt like I was being treated like I was stupid.

No one should ever feel that way when they take their animal to a veterinarian. Remember, there are plenty of vets out there and there's no sense going to someone you don't feel comfortable with.

- Watch your animal for signs of how they feel about the veterinarian because they will tell you through their behavior what they think about the vet you are seeing. I hear things like: My dog wouldn't get out of the car when we arrived. My dog shivered and panted the entire time we were there. My cat was a wreck and never calmed down through the whole appointment. Many people think that it's normal for an animal to be totally distressed at a vet appointment, but I have seen enough evidence to the contrary to convince me that animals know when it's the "right" vet and when it's not.

My clients have told me stories of going to a new vet and being shocked at how calm their animal was, as opposed to previous vet visits. I have a few clients whose dogs had to be muzzled in order to make it through a vet visit but when they found the "right" vet, the dog no longer needed to be muzzled. Your animal will give you signs, if you are willing to "listen" to them.

- Listen to your own gut. If the diagnosis doesn't feel right to you, trust that. Get another opinion. Several years ago, I had a client whose dog received a cancer diagnosis (lymphoma, I think). They told her he would probably only live a couple more months. The guardian kept telling me she didn't think her dog had cancer and I told her to trust that feeling. When she went back several months later to have more lab work done, there were no "proof" of cancer anymore. She was so glad she trusted her instincts and her dog is still here and doing fine. I have had too many clients hear, "Your animal has cancer, the humane thing to do is to put them down today." And when they chose not to, they were treated like they were "bad guardians."

One of my clients called me today with this very story. She was told by a vet that her dog had cancer and that she should be put down today. When my client said, "No, I'm bringing her back home with me" she was accused of keeping her dog alive "for her own selfish reasons." I know this woman and I know there is nothing selfish about her at all. She has a heart of gold and she also has a really good head on her shoulders. She knows the time will come for her dog to make her transition but she told me she knew it wasn't today. I trust her. I hope she will continue to trust herself as well.

My hope is that all guardians will learn to trust themselves and be willing to stand up to a vet if they don't agree with their assessment, or not be afraid to find another vet who is more willing to work with them, to treat them and their animal with respect. Our animals count on us to advocate for them, to listen to them and they count on us to listen to our own intuition. You know when something doesn't feel right and there's nothing wrong with trusting that feeling. Regardless of how much medical training you've personally had, as a guardian, you have valuable information and insights and intuitions about your pet that should never be discounted . . . not by yourself and not by anyone in the medical profession. Please don't be afraid to trust yourself and your own "knowing."